For many parents, the convenience of knowing where their kids are at all times is more than enough to warrant the price of a smart phone. In fact, a solid 90% of children under the age of 16 in the UK have a mobile. But as with anything else, smart phones come with both their pros and their cons, and when you’re talking about kids, the issue gets even trickier.
There is a lot of peace of mind that comes from being able to contact your child wherever they are, and them being able to contact you. Missed buses are no longer a problem, and the days of yelling your child’s name up and down the street to try and find them are gone. Along with that peace of mind though, comes the niggling worry that every parent is used to having: is my child really safe?
From cyber bullying to inappropriate web content, being able to contact strangers, being able to rack up hefty cell phone bills, all these things come to mind when we start thinking about the dangers of impressionable kids using a mobile. And truth be told, those dangers do exist. There’s no avoiding the fact that you do run a risk by giving your child a mobile.
And add to that the fact that you might not be savvy enough to protect them, and the situation gets even more worrying. Most parents can remember the days before smart phones, and as much as we’d like to think that we’re on top of the tech things in life, our kids just might be better. Today’s generation grew up with the internet, smart phones, apps, and to them all these things are simply second nature.
As a parent, protecting your child is of utmost importance. But the technological world changes quickly, not to mention how fast the trends and fads of an adolescent’s world transform. There are plenty of general safety statements around that aim to help you protect your child and his phone, but these just aren’t enough. Checking your kid’s Facebook chat messages might seem like a great thing to do, until you realise that more and more kids aren’t using Facebook chat anymore. It’s just not cool. So which app are you supposed to be checking?
If you really want to be on top of protecting your kid from the potential dangers of smart phone use, then the infographic below is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Don’t know your Snapchat from your Kik? You can bet that your kid does, so maybe it’s time that you got with the programme and found out precisely how to protect a modern kid from the dangers of the modern world.
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