{"id":9932,"date":"2018-08-20T16:52:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T23:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ltsarizona.org\/douglas-charter-school\/?p=9932"},"modified":"2018-08-20T16:52:15","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T23:52:15","slug":"kids-and-phones-how-to-know-when-and-what-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ltsarizona.org\/douglas-charter-school\/kids-and-phones-how-to-know-when-and-what-to-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids and Phones: How to Know When and What to Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does your child have a cell phone? The odds are the answer is \u201cYes.\u201d Statistics show that 56 percent of children 8-12 have a cell phone. It\u2019s difficult to think of a product or technology, designed for adults, that was so quickly and ubiquitously co-opted by kids. Of course, Mom and Dad have to buy the phones and pay the bills, but cell phones have become a necessity in many kids\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

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Nielsen<\/a> surveyed parents last year and found that 45 percent of kids received their own service plan between the ages of 10-12, with 72 percent of those having mobile service that included voice, messaging, and data.<\/p>\n

Parents monitor what TV shows and movies their children see, and parental control over mobile usage is just as important. What\u2019s the best way to monitor a device that can be used in so many different ways, is always in a child\u2019s possession, and is out of parents\u2019 sight for most of the time?<\/p>\n

Some extensive parental controls are available for Android and iOS operating systems. Google makes the Family Link<\/a> app for Android devices, with which parents can manage apps, get reports on screen time, and set limits on when the device can be used. For iPhones, Apple just announced new safeguards for devices using iOS 12 features called Screen Time<\/a>. Parents can view activity reports on their children\u2019s usage and will be able to block usage for specific periods of time.<\/p>\n

There are also several choices of free<\/a> versions of commercial software available that will send regular reports on websites visited, programs used, online searches, and time spent. For more complete monitoring and control, parents can purchase software<\/a> that will send real-time notifications of violations and abuse, monitor social network activity, and allow the child\u2019s device to be managed remotely.<\/p>\n

With the proper restrictions in place, here are some reasons parents should want their children to have and use mobile devices:<\/p>\n