Wouldn’t it be nice if every child came with a customized parenting “how to” instruction manual when they entered the world? It sure would take the guess work out of how to effectively raise children to become healthy, happy, and productive adults. Unfortunately, we don’t live in such a perfect world! It takes serious parental ingenuity in trying to successfully keep children safe from the dangers lurking around every corner!
Dangers of Smartphones
As a concerned parent, doing the best to protect a child in a world of uncertainties is an endless battle. Children today seem to be more advanced and parents must be on top of their game to catch situations that could potentially lead to harmful circumstances. This is true, especially concerning the internet. Kids as young as 3 years old are allowed online, with the average age of a child receiving a smartphone at a little over 10 years old! The thought of that is scary! It opens a door to being exposed to the darker side of the internet containing sexting, cyberbullying, violent games, influential social media, inappropriate imagery and other perils.
Benefits and Perks of Smartphones
I’m not implying the use of smartphones for age appropriate children is wrong. Even though a smartphone can lead to problems, they carry a lot of benefits and perks. A smartphone can be a great tool in alerting parents when a child is lost. The device also allows for expanding a child’s knowledge base, used to help complete assignments, aid in making friends or connecting with family members, and gives a child an overall feeling of security by being able to stay connected to loved ones when away from home.
Restrictions and Guidelines
So, along with the dangers there comes the pluses. However, there needs to be some restrictions and guidelines with the use of a smartphone. Parents need to be diligent and proactive in protecting children from the harmful dangers that come along with using a smartphone. AND, smartphones should never be used for hours on end as digital babysitters! Children need human interaction to be able to grow, evolve into empathetic adults, have mental stability, and know how to react in real life situations. No device should replace time that could be spent with a parent!
This website came up with a great infographic about how to keep your children safe on their smartphones. It gives parents step-by-step instructions on how to set restrictions on iphone/ipad devices. It also gives useful advice on what you should be teaching your child about smartphone usage, how to monitor what they are doing online, and the know-how to resolve problems if they arise. Check it out below!
What age did your child receive their first smartphone and do you monitor their use?
We definitely take the time to find age appropriate apps for my grandsons to use and play with on their iPads. We don’t want them exposed to inappropriate material.
I think this is too often overlooked aspect of parenting.
This is great advice for any parent!
It really is up to parents to keep track of smartphones. Yes,they have great benefits BUT for many years kids managed to be kids without the use of a phone in their hands. Personally smartphones scare me for especially young kids. Theree are way too many parents out there who dont monitor or dont know how. Take the internet……. would you invite a load of strangers to oogle your kid?Likely not. Yet kids post pictures all the time often not eve =n known to parents. I think so much falls on parents and how responsible they are.
I am sorry, I have strong feelings on this one, there are too many kids using phones the wrong way.
Thank you for sharing this, I will definitely keep this in mind and share with my family and friends.
Technology, and the associated social media that comes with it, is advancing faster than society can adjust and it’s especially difficult for parents of young and teenaged children to naviigate.