Your Child’s First Cell Phone

Almost every child has a cellphone these days, for better or for worse. While a cellphone can give your child an easy way to get a hold of you, which can be imperative in many situations that a young child may find themselves, easy access to a smart phone isn’t without some serious downsides. Thanks to modern technology, children and teenagers can both easily access social media apps, the Internet, and texting services with few limitations.

            Before you hand over a phone to your child, you need to help your child understand how to stay safe with their cellphone. You’ll also want to take a few important steps in order to make sure you can keep an eye on your child’s cellphone usage. Here’s what you can do before your child receives their first cellphone.

Taking a Few Precautions

            In general, you’ll want to make sure you take a few simple precautions when it comes to allowing your child this privilege.

            Most devices have Parental Control settings which allow you to limit what apps the child can access, what apps they can download and so on. Be sure to make liberal use of these settings, which, for the most part, can’t be changed without a password. Make sure you write the password down somewhere that your child can’t access. Parental Controls can also help block your child from making in-app purchases inside games and social media apps, which can prevent your child from accidentally spending thousands of dollars in real cash on mobile games.

            Consider installing a cellphone tracking service as well. Since your child is young and new to using cellphones, it’s important to have a good handle on how they’re using their phone. As a child gets older and more responsible with their smartphone usage you can veer away from using things like Parental Controls and cellphone tracking services but stick with them for now. You’ll be glad you did.

            A cell phone tracking service not only provides a GPS location of where your child is but it can also give you valuable data about texts and calls your child has sent. It can even give you data about the apps they’ve used, pictures they’ve sent, and so on. That way, you can ensure that your child is using their phone responsibly and you know where they are at all times, which is especially important when your child is in middle school.

           

Approaching the Conversation

            You also need to have discussions with your child about proper smartphone behavior. For example, your child shouldn’t be using their cellphone at the dinner table or using it all day. (Make sure you’re setting a good example too. If you’re using your cellphone all the time, that shows your child that it’s okay to use theirs constantly too, which isn’t the kind of example you want to set). Your child should absolutely not use their device in class. Failure to abide by this rule should result in loss of cellphone privileges for a period of time you deem appropriate.

            In general, your child should also be sure to come to you if they encounter a text, website, or call that they’re not sure about. The Internet can be a dangerous place and with a smartphone it’s never been easier to encounter unsavory people and websites online.

            Using a cellphone can have a lot of advantages. For example, it can give your child a handy way to get in touch with you if they need to ask for a ride, tell you how their day went, or for you to let them know about important things going on. But you need to take a few precautions to make sure that your child is staying safe no matter what, including searching for a free cell phone spy software download any phone, or with a powerful paid version that comes with a low, one-time cost and live customer service agents to help you with installation, and more.