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If your child doesn’t yet have a cell phone, it’s probably high on his gift list. No doubt he’s been pleading for one and telling you that everyone has one. Plus, there are advantages for parents, like being able to reach him when he’s not home. But many parents have concerns as well. Here’s some expert advice on knowing the right time to give your kid a cell phone.
“It’s extraordinary how much younger kids are now getting smartphones,” says Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute. “It was once typical for kids to get phones in high school or sometimes later. Today, 95% of all teens have access to a cell phone, according to the Pew Research Center. In high-tech families the average age kids get cell phones is 7-and-a-half,” Balkam says.
Keeping in touch
Parents who give their kids a phone in elementary school often just want to reach them and know where they are. If those are your goals, there are some safe choices for younger kids. “There is absolutely no need for a seven- to 10-year-old to have the latest iPhone, which is basically a supercomputer in your pocket,” advises Balkam.
The new GizmoWatch is the most capable model in the line and the simple-to-use GizmoHub allows you to communicate and locate your child in real time. The app can even notify you if your child tries to leave a predetermined safety zone. With the GizmoWatch, parents can designate up to 10 numbers that can receive messages from the GizmoWatch. This ensures that even if your child accidentally shares his or her GizmoWatch number, the call can’t go through unless you designate that number as a safe contact. In addition, you can select up to 20 different text messages that your child can send to his or her parent-approved contact list.
And if you or your child are big Mickey Mouse fans, Verizon and Disney recently began offering a special GizmoWatch Mickey Mouse 90th Anniversary Edition.
It was once typical for kids to get phones in high school or sometimes later. Today, 95% of all teens have access to a cell phone, according to the Pew Research Center. In high-tech families the average age kids get cell phones is 7-and-a-half.
Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute
Ready for a cell phone
There isn’t a single perfect age to give a child a mobile phone, because no two families are alike. Some kids are responsible and cautious at a younger age than others. And your family’s needs will be unique, too. But there is a way to know when it’s time for a cell phone: Talk to your child and make a list of how she can make good use of a phone. Make another list of the potential problems and your concerns. “Identify which items on the list are needs and which are wants,” suggest Balkam. That will help you resist the impact of peer pressure -- when your child insist she’ll be ruined socially because everything is only happening on SnapChat or whatever is the most popular social media channel of the moment.
Your two lists provide the answer. “When the pros outweigh the cons, then start discussing what kind of phone she needs,” Balkam says. It’s also the time to start talking about the rules for having the phone, like not using it during homework, and what happens if the rules are broken. It’s important to have those conversations beforehand.
Learn more about setting up a parent-child cell phone agreement.
Parental controls
To help you manage cell phones, Verizon offers Smart Family. You can set it to block sites and apps that have certain types of content such as violence or specific social media channels. There’s a location tracking feature that shows where your kids are. You can even set a geo boundary with an alert that tells you when they leave a certain location. And, perhaps best of all, you can pause internet access -- making sure they aren’t surfing when they should be doing homework or sleeping. A pause can be programmed to happen automatically at a set time, or you can just start one when you put dinner on the table or the grandparents arrive for a visit.
When your child uses a cell phone at home, you’ll also want to set the parental controls on your router. These settings let you block content to all devices using your WiFi, which includes computers/laptops and cell phones. You’ll find the controls on the My Fios app and on the My Verizon website. To find the parental controls, click on Internet, then Manage My Devices, and then Devices & Parental Controls.
Additional online safety resources for parents
- Read more about understanding parental controls.
- Hear more about parenting in a digital world in this podcast with Stephen Balkam.
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