4 Safety Tips to Know Before Getting Your Child Their First Smartphone

Today kids are going online and using internet-connected devices at younger ages than ever before. A lot of the time, the internet can be a very educational resource for kids and is often perfect for completing homework. However, most parents are aware of the dangers that the internet can also pose to their little ones. While PC and laptop use can be supervised, getting your child their own smartphone often means giving them a little bit more freedom when it comes to their online activity. Here are some key safety tips to know before you get your child their first smartphone.

Talking With Strangers and Social Media:

Many parents will give their child a smartphone with an agreement for them to follow strict social media rules. Most social media sites will have a minimum age of thirteen years old, so if your child is younger than this you might want to avoid allowing them to use social media at all until they are old enough. Make sure that your child knows the importance of letting you know if they are contacted online at all by a stranger. If somebody is sending messages to your child, you can find out more about them using the public records at Nuwber.

Parental Control Apps:

For your peace of mind, you might want to consider getting a parental control app that you can connect with your child’s smartphone. Parental control apps allow you to monitor things such as who is contacting your child, what websites they are visiting and what apps they are downloading. If you are going to be linking your own account to your child’s phone, this can also stop them from accidentally spending tons of money on downloading games using your credit card. Parental controls will allow you to set which sites and apps to block your child from accessing, giving you additional peace of mind.

GPS Tracking:

Most kids will get their first smartphone when they begin walking to school by themselves or spending more time with their friends without parental supervision. It often makes sense, because it gives your child an easy way of contacting you or another responsible adult if they need help, and you can get in touch with them easily at any time. GPS tracking is another feature that is worth adding to your child’s smartphone and comes included with many parental control apps. This gives you the option to see where your child is at any time for their safety and your peace of mind. You can also use built-in apps like Find My Friends on iPhone to easily track your child’s location and let them track yours so that you can find each other.

Online Security:

Finally, it’s worth teaching your child the importance of online security now that they have their own device. Make sure that they set strong passwords for their device and any apps and online accounts that they use on it. Be sure to educate them about phishing scams on email and social media and why it’s important to verify any links before opening them. If your child is going to be using their smartphone to connect to public Wi-Fi, it’s worth having them install a VPN app on their smartphone first to encrypt the connection and avoid a hacking attack.