Potential risks to keep in mind before giving phone to kids

Mobile phones are now the top need in today’s world. However, their effect on kids and adults has become a concern. While everyone has smartphones nowadays, kids also desire a cell phone to connect with friends. Parents are concerned about many things before letting their children use a phone.

Additionally, parents should consider the harmful actions to their child’s social life. Plus, how they protect their kid from strangers and cyber threats. Everything has positive or adverse effects. Smartphones are now the top sensation. They have positive aspects, such as using them for studies, contacting parents or friends, and more. However, they also have a negative side: they are full of online bullies, attackers, hackers, and other cyber predators.

Key Takeaways

• Safety comes first. Monitor your child’s social behaviours, restrict screen time, help your child browse good things, and block suspicious cyberbullies.
• Excessive screen usage leads to severe health problems, such as sleep disruptions and eye redness. Continuously using the phone also causes obesity. Teach your child to take breaks and participate in physical activities.
• Children should learn to keep their information private, avoid public Wi-Fi, and use strong and unique passwords. They should also investigate before opening any link or site.
• Use TheOneSpy parental control feature to enable monitoring of a child’s social activities.
• Parents should know the latest technology trends and ensure their children are secure in this tech world.

The Importance of Kid Safety & Security

Understand essential security measures before giving a child a smartphone. Smartphones are an advanced communication tool, but parents should not compromise their child’s safety.

Types of Social Risks & Threats

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is harassing individuals online through mobile phones, social apps, games, or others. For example, someone sends inappropriate, harmful messages, spreads fake rumours about someone, and shares embarrassing pictures. Cyberbullying occurs online, so parents should keep a keen eye on children’s phones and avoid interference from suspicious things.

Unsafe use of social networks

Unprotected social media use is a big concern. Online predators hide their identities and communicate with children about their hobbies, interests, family, and friends.

Showing harmful content

The Internet is a bundle of everything containing adult sites that are not appropriate for children. Research shows that at the age of 1 to 10, children pass through some inappropriate sites, which makes them violent and arrogant.

Eyes strain

High screen consumption causes eye strain, redness, and itchiness in teen eyes. Blue light emissions can cause long-term problems, including constant headaches, blurry vision, redness, and weak eyesight.

Minimise Attention Span

The impact of spending more time on screens affects both children and adults in different ways. Children have shorter attention spans as their minds need information constantly. Therefore, they cannot pay attention to anything for long.

Phone addictions

Children become addicted to phones, leading to a lack of social and physical activities.

Mental & physical health

Excessive mobile usage is linked to severe depression, anxiety, and stress, which reduces the level of brain growth. Plus, due to radiation, there is the chance of cancer, which leads to disturbed physical and social lives.

Sexting

Sexting can be dangerous, and it comes with severe consequences. Sexting is common, and children or youngsters send inappropriate videos or pictures to others they don’t know in real life. Unfortunately, the sad reality is anything that is shared online can used to harass or threaten your teen, which will be disturbing and embarrassing.

Key Tips to follow for Child Safety

Set boundaries

Setting boundaries and limitations is necessary for child safety. Talk to the children about their interests and explain why you have applied these restrictions. These safety measures allow the children to participate in other activities and reduce screen time.

Enable parental control features.

Parental control enhances parenting by monitoring the child’s real-time activities. It lets the parents track their child’s phone and monitor their social interactions, messaging, calls, and more. Encourage them to talk to you openly, avoid danger, and improve child security.

• Avoid using public WIFI.
• Don’t share passwords online.
• Use a strong and unique password.

Wrap up!

The smartphone has many positive aspects, but it also has opposing sides, including cyberbullying, inappropriate apps, and websites. These need to be better suited for children. Enabling key security measures ensures child safety. So, invest in your child’s safety and security.

Feature Image by Daria Nepriakhina 🇺🇦 on Unsplash