Your Child's First Smartphone: 5 Things You Need To Do First

You're likely here today because you've decided to give your child a smartphone to use each day. It will help you keep in contact with your son or daughter, and they can use their smartphone to catch up with social media, surf the web, and, of course, talk to their friends.


The thing is, you want to ensure they aren't accessing content that isn't appropriate for children, and you want to know that they're okay when they're out and about.

With that in mind, the following five tips will help you set up their first smartphone with safety and security in mind:

1. Set A PIN

You expect your child to act responsibly with the smartphone you give them. But, there are times when they might be careless with the device and inadvertently lose it - even if it's just around your home somewhere.

If their phone ends up in the wrong hands, you don't want whoever finds it to gain access to things like their social media accounts, email, and photographs and videos.

That's why it makes sense to set up a PIN that must get entered to unlock the phone before it can get used.

2. Turn On Parental Filters

It goes without saying that you want to have a reliable way of restricting the content your child views on their smartphone. Thankfully, it's possible to set up parental controls on Android and iPhone smartphones easily.

For example, Google Family Link on Android smartphones can help you limit the apps they use or require your approval for installation, limit app and browsing access, and even let you know how often they use their device each day.

3. Install A Tracking App

When your child goes out with their friends, you want to have peace of mind knowing where they are - especially if they forget to tell you. Did you know that you can use their phone's GPS to locate them via a tracking app?

Tracking apps run in the background on a smartphone, so your child won't even know it's active.

One blog post online describes how you can set up such an app. Read the full post here for more information.

4. Buy A Case And Screen Protector

Smartphones aren't cheap to buy, and getting them repaired can be prohibitively expensive. That's why it's a good idea to minimise the risk of accidental damage as much as possible. But, what steps can you take to achieve that goal?

Firstly, you should buy a rubber case that protects the back and sides of the phone and has a slightly protruding edge at the top to protect the front. Such a case will stop the screen from getting broken during a fall and prevent damage to the rest of the phone.

Secondly, a screen protector will prevent scratches from forming on the screen.

5. Set Screen Time Limits

One final thing to do is set screen time limits on the smartphone. That way, you won't have to worry about your child going online or playing games when they should be asleep or studying at school.

K Elizabeth xoxox

*Collaborative Post