Are you thinking about getting your child their first phone? This is a big step and one that you need to consider carefully. Usually, a child will get their first phone when they are about 12. However, some parents choose to give them one earlier for practical reasons. Here are some of the key aspects that you need to consider when getting your Child Their First Phone.
Parental Controls
When you explore how to set up new iPhone devices, you should look into the parental controls that are available. In doing so, you can make sure that you are in control of what your child can and can’t do on their phone. The easiest way to do this is to ensure that you are setting the password. That way, you can make sure that you are in control of any software that they choose to download. You should also think about setting up parental controls on the web search engine including Safari. This will make sure that they are unable to access any sites that could be deemed unsafe or inappropriate. Remember, there is an element of trust here as it’s quite easy for a child to go into the back of the phone and change settings like this.
If you can’t trust them to not do this, then you’ll need to make sure that you are checking the device regularly
Jailbreaking
If you are buying your child an iPhone, it is important to make sure that they don’t try and jailbreak it. Jailbreaking is a term used to describe when you unlock the software behind the phone to make changes. In doing so, you can gain more options for customization and download apps onto the phone that are not available on the app store. Essentially, it’s a way to open up Apple’s carefully designed system. A young teen might be eager to do this and could even convince you to pay for the service to jailbreak their phone.
However, you should be aware that if you do decide to proceed, then you will be voiding the warranty. If you change the phone in this way, Apple also won’t be interested if you have software or hardware issues. Essentially, you’ll be on your own and if anything goes wrong your only real option will be to buy a new phone.
Microtransactions
Young kids are most interested in playing games on their phones. As such, you need to make sure that you are thinking about issues with payments. If you research online, you’ll find nightmare stories where kids were able to rack up massive bills on their parent’s devices. Sometimes, an app developer will refund transactions like this but it can be quite difficult to prove that your kids completed the transactions without your knowledge.
The easiest way to handle this is to make sure that you go into the settings and ensure that microtransactions are turned off. Microtransactions are purchases that you can complete in a game or app without typing in your password or completing the verification process. As such, it’s ridiculously easy to spend money without even realizing it. Luckily, microtransactions can be turned off regardless of whether you are using an iPhone or an Android phone. However, the process of doing so is a little different so make sure that you research a step-by-step guide for the device that you are using.
Shady Apps
You should also think about the apps that you don’t want your kids to download. This changes regularly but certain apps to watch out for are chat apps like Omegle. This allows you to talk to strangers with little to no monitoring and even engage in video chats. Snapchat may also not be appropriate for younger children even though different filters seemed to be aimed at them. The reason for this is that messages can be deleted and with the right setting it will be impossible to find out what anyone has messaged your child.
Telegram is another similar risky app. While the same as Whatsapp, it’s impossible to trace so it’s commonly used for nefarious and illegal activities. As such, there’s no reason why you should ever see it downloaded on your child’s phone.
Some games like Among Us are also widely known as being used by adults who are interested in communicating with children. As such, if your child is using a game like this on their phone, it’s best to ensure that you monitor their activity.
We hope this helps you understand some of the issues that you need to be aware of when giving your child their first phone.
