How to use Smart Family: From their first phone to their first drive

Editor's note: Verizon Smart Family is now Verizon Family with a new look and other exciting changes. Please visit "What parents need to know about the new Verizon Family app."

For today’s kids, “firsts” look a lot different from those of the last generation: first phone, first string of nonsensical emojis, first social media handle and so on. As they grow up, the tech changes. And for parents of kids at any age, this means the digital safety tools need to change, too. But many parents may not know how to manage these parental controls as kids earn more independence. Fortunately, Verizon’s Smart Family app has specific features that address important developmental stages.

Here are the most essential Smart Family options parents need to know about as their kids reach these digital milestones.

The first phone

Getting a smartphone is a big first in a child’s life. Talk together about how the parental controls in the Smart Family app help parents keep kids safe while they’re online. Parents and kids should apply the app to the kids’ phone together, to make sure that digital safety is an ongoing discussion. Explain what content filters you’re using, what apps you’re blocking and why. Pro tip: Parents can make the companion app—and keeping the app active—part of the responsibility of owning a first phone.

Here’s more of what you can manage using the parental controls in the app.

Manage new contacts. Parents should set age-appropriate boundaries with kids about who can qualify as a contact. Then, from the Smart Family app, parents can block certain numbers or add them to the trusted contacts setting so kids can only call or text friends and family that have been approved.*

Pause access to data and Wi-Fi on the phone. A first phone can be a tempting time-waster. With Smart Family, parental controls allow mom and dad to set Wi-Fi and data time restrictions to restrict phone use during school hours or after bedtime. Parents can also use parental controls to set custom time limits, or simply turn off Wi-Fi and data access on the phone until homework or chores are finished.

Filter content. Parental controls can set content filters to help manage what type of content kids can see and access on their phone—blocking both off-limits apps and inappropriate websites.

The first social media accounts

Once kids turn 13, they can legally access most social media apps. This is an especially important time for parents to set parental controls. Ideally, parents and kids are having ongoing conversations about what teens are sharing about themselves online. Outside of those conversations, there are a number of ways that Smart Family can help parents check in to make sure kids are using the phone responsibly as they gain more independence online and outside the home.

Web and app activity. As kids start to use more social media, parents need to keep an eye on how much time kids are spending on their phones. They should also watch for changes in their preteens’ emotional behavior after using certain apps. Parental controls in the Smart Family app can help. From the app on the parent’s phone, you can monitor web and app activity and use it as a prompt for conversations about how long kids are using an app and why, how the app is making them feel, and how they could modify using it if necessary.

Location alerts. Preteens and teens are spending more time on their own, hanging out with friends or going to school events. With GPS tracking in the Smart Family app (and a Premium subscription), parents can keep an eye on where they are, set up geo-fences, and get alerts when preteens and teens enter or leave those boundaries.

Pick Me Up. From the companion app on their phones, preteens and teens can ask for a Pick Me Up and drop a pin to their exact location, with an option to schedule a Pick Me Up alert that automatically pings parents when it’s time to catch a ride home.

The first drive

As kids navigate high school and begin to be more self-sufficient and self-reliant, the driving insights in Smart Family and a Smart Family Premium subscription can provide a view into your teen’s driving habits—and help ease your mind as they hit the road on their own for the first time. Here are two examples of the driving insights parents need to know about.

Trip monitoring. Parents can use parental controls to confirm teens are driving responsibly—by viewing trip activity after a trip is complete. From the Smart Family app, it’s possible to view insights on speed, hard braking and sharp turns. There’s also an option to select “passenger” to check driving behavior when your teen is riding with friends.

Crash detection services. If the app detects a potential crash while the teen is driving a vehicle, safety alerts notify the parent about the incident. However, the crash detection feature may not detect all crashes and will not contact emergency services.

Smart Family helps families stay safe as they hit milestones from first phone to first drive—so by the time kids reach the big milestone of graduation, they’ll have a strong foundation of good online and offline habits that will carry into the next phase of their lives.

Keep an eye on your kid’s phone without looking at their phone—with Smart Family.

*Text limits can be applied to messages that are sent and received over the cellular network, but will not apply to messages sent within Apple iMessage, chat messages sent within Google Messages or activity on other messaging apps. Call limits do not apply to calls made and received using third-party applications.