Online safety has moved more toward mobile devices every year. Handing a child an internet-enabled device without proper boundaries is unwise and dangerous.
More and more experts are advising screen-free childhoods to protect developing kids. Older kids need protection too. Well before the pandemic, teens said they felt left out and lonely, don’t enjoy life, and considered life useless. Young people also face skyrocketing rates of clinical depression and self-harm.
So what can parents do? Keep reading for online safety tips that apply to phones.
Online Safety Tips To Follow
Consider these ways to protect kids who have internet access via mobile phones:
- Create an acceptable-use contract.
- Keep phones in the kitchen at night to charge.
- Review phone logs at random.
- Get a paper bill and review the numbers called and texts sent.
- Get a web filter for your child’s mobile device.
- Have family rules for daily, monthly, and yearly mobile free times.
- Have a zero-tolerance policy for texting and driving.
Use Safety Software
Parents aren’t in this alone. Numerous apps, programs, and sites can help you protect your children online. Features include message monitoring and alerts about sexting, pedophilia, cyberbullying, suicide, drugs, and gun talk.
Some apps act as a virtual fence, notifying you when a child enters or leaves certain online areas. You also can set up no-texting zones, such as at school, church, or work. View locations, monitor text messages, screen images, and more.
Settings allow you to set up a contact list of safe numbers for family and close friends. Plus, you can add numbers to a banned list.
Blocking online pornography is a key concern of many parents…and rightly so. Predators are lurking everywhere, including social media. If my kids were old enough to have phones, anti-porn software would be a no-brainer.
