One of the biggest decisions parents make today is deciding when it’s appropriate to give your child a smartphone. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until the age of 13 to provide a child a phone. Meanwhile, a Stanford Medicine Study found that by age 12.6, 75% of children had a smartphone. And while many children younger than this have used tablets or played on their parent’s smartphones, owning a personal electronic device can increase the likelihood of being exposed to dangerous content and activity.
Technology like smartphones have drastically changed how we interact with the world. Society has yet to put proper safeguards in place. When the automobile was first invented, there were no seatbelts or airbags. As time went on and people suffered from catastrophic accidents, governments put these safety measures in place and created laws that forced us to protect ourselves. Just like these safeguards, we need to protect our children from the internet as well. And until such time that society and government make these protections mandatory, parents must take protective measures into their own hands.
Our children are using the internet for their school work, to learn to read, write, and do math. At school, these apps and websites are all accessed on supervised and protected devices. With the help of companies like MMGuardian, you can do the same thing at home.
You can take the same approach by allowing your child to have a phone without internet, like the MMGuardian Phone. A no internet phone is a great first step to dip one’s toes in the water of owning a personal electronic device. In addition, teaching your child appropriate and safe internet interaction is a critical step in growing up in this digital era.
If you are trying to assess whether or not your young child is ready to own a phone without internet, consider these markers for maturity.
Skills that demonstrate your child is ready for a phone:
- Getting good grades in school
- Participating in extracurricular activities
- Using other electronics with care
- Doing chores and cleaning up after self at home
Start them on the phone without internet.
A no internet phone gives them the essential functional aspects of a phone and can look like a smartphone without the temptation of the internet. MMGuardian developed a Samsung Smartphone that can operate without the internet or with filtered web only.
MMGuardian’s phone has features parents love while looking like a typical smartphone that kids aren’t embarrassed to own.
The MMGuardian looks like a smartphone and has:
- GPS that your kids can’t turn off
- The option for no internet or filtered internet
- No social media or monitored social media
- Child Safety Alerts on texts and pictures
- Call Block for unknown numbers and other contacts
- Find the phone siren and remote lock and wipe
I wish I had found the MMGuardian smartphone before I gave my daughter her first phone years ago. The peace of mind I would have had knowing that MMGuardian could alert me of any trouble while also giving me a way to find and shut down the phone if it was lost. This feature alone would have saved me money on purchasing phone insurance.
Our young children are some of the favorite targets of hackers, online predators and cyberbullies.
If you’re like me and already gave your preteen a phone, you can still get protection by using the MMGuardian app. It can monitor their use and protect them. The app is installed on your phone as well as your child’s. From your device you can control several features on your child’s phone and even receive comprehensive reports on their social media usage, website browsing and messaging.
The parental control app can implement the features of:
- Web filtering –
Blocks inappropriate content and keeps the user off of websites you choose either by category or specific URL’s.
- Message monitoring –
You can get detailed reports from SMS messages to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
- Safety alerts –
If a message on your child’s phone is indicative of cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, violence or inappropriate pictures, you will be alerted right away.
- Location tracking –
Monitor your child’s location to make sure they are where they are supposed to be and also to find the phone if it should get lost or left behind.
- App control –
This feature allows you to turn off certain apps at select times, set limits, and automatically block newly downloaded apps so your child cannot use them without your approval.
When your child is begging to have a phone and you feel they have demonstrated enough responsibility to be ready for this next milestone, be ready with the help of MMGuardian. Opting for a phone without internet is the safest option and a great first step for preteens. However, if you choose to use a web-enabled phone instead, download the MMGuardian app and know that you are protecting your child from the dangers of the internet while teaching them responsible personal device usage.