Setting Up Your Child’s First Phone? Tips for Keeping Them Safe
Getting your child their first phone is a milestone for everyone involved and only a step to take with careful consideration. Prioritizing safety is an excellent way to avoid unwanted situations and help your kid enjoy technology without unintended consequences.
Discussions With Your Child Before Purchase
Start by having in-depth talks with your child about what it means to own and use a smartphone. They’ve almost certainly used others’ phones before, but having one themselves carries a certain level of responsibility. You need to set some ground rules.
Start by discussing how much time your youngster can spend on the phone daily and for what reasons. For example, will you allow them to be on longer during a weekend versus a school night? Can they use the cell phone more often than the norm if you verify the activities are for a school project?
What apps will you allow them to use? Can they download new ones without your permission?
Setting rules about communication is essential, too. Which friends and family members can they contact on the phone? What messaging apps will they use? Consider confirming what your child should do when making a new friend. Can they add that person to their contacts immediately, or should they ask you first?
These are the kinds of questions and discussion points that will help your child use their phone safely and allow you to clarify that this privilege comes with responsibilities. Be sure you mention that all initial ground rules could change as needed, too. Think about getting more advice from parents you trust who have youngsters around the same age as yours.
How to Set up Your Child’s First Smartphone
Knowing how to set up a cell phone for a child means getting familiar with the operating system’s settings and capabilities. An overview fromChild Mind Institutesuggests starting your kid off with a specialized one they can only use for calling and texting.
If the phone you choose has iOS or Android as its operating system, look at what’s on it. Scroll through the installed apps and ensure you approve of them. Many vendors sell phones with third-party applications already installed, and they’re not all necessarily child-friendly.
You’ll need to periodically check your kid’s phone after giving it to them, as well. The Apple Store and Google Play arefull of potentially dangerous appsfor children. Some look safe and practical but have vault features that allow people to hide files.
You may also want to activate settings like Do Not Disturb so kids won’t hear notifications coming through after bedtime. As you tweak how the notifications work, think about setting up different sounds for calls from you or other adults in the child’s life.
Controls and Limits on a Child’s Phone
Smartphones can quickly become addictive. you could reduce the chances of that happening by restricting how your child can use it and when. For example, setting up Google Family Linkallows parents to control the accountsof kids under 13. It works on Android and iOS. You could consider using a different parental control solution once your child turns 13.
Additionally, Androidcan restrict time spentusing certain apps. iOS has a similar feature. These are good ways to slowly begin allowing your child to spend more time in specific apps that pose more risks but can remain safe when used well.
Limiting how soon before bedtime kids can use their phones is also a good idea. Scientists believe theblue light from screens can negatively affectsleep duration and quality.
Additional Security
Smartphones make it easy to capture pictures, videos, and location details, then share them. That’s not always a good thing, though. TheFederal Trade Commissionsuggests encouraging your child to have a privacy-first mindset about online sharing. Being mindful of their privacy and that of others could prevent sensitive content from ending up public.
You may also want totrack your child’s phonewith a third-party app. That could add safety, particularly if your kid is old enough to spend time with friends after school. Calling them to verify their location is one option, but a tracking app gives you additional information if they don’t answer their phone or you don’t trust their response. You are potentially telling your kids that you don’t trust them, however, so be cautious around taking this option.
If your child has allergies or medical conditions, Android and iOS let you store medical details on the phone. That’s a wise step if you want first responders to have essential information in emergencies.
Help Your Child Stay Safe on Their First Phone
This overview will help you feel confident about enabling your child to use a smartphone safely. This is a significant step for them, and you’re able to provide useful guidance along the way.
It’s not something you should be overly worried about, though it’s only natural that you feel some anxiety: this is signaling to your child that you trust them.
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