Mobile phones are an integral part of kids’ lives. According to research by C&R Research, 22 percent of young children own a cell phone (ages 6-9), 60 percent of teens (ages 10-14), and 84 percent of teens (ages 15-18). According to market research firm the Yankee Group, 54 percent of 8 to 12 year olds will have mobile phones within the next three years.

How a Mobile Phone can be handy for kids

• Safety: Mobile phone can be an essential item in an emergency. The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 74 percent of Americans say they’ve used a cell phone in an emergency. Emergency agencies have encouraged phone users, in particular kids to  to put “ICE” or ” in case of emergency” in front of names of people in your phone directory whom emergency personal should call in case of an emergency. The latest phones which come with GPS technology allow parents to now track the location of a phone and hopefully, their kid.
• Convenience: For a parent having the luxury and convenience of being able to call and speak to your child instantly is very important. The same goes for a child. Knowing that you can make that call when you need to is a great convenience. This is a convenience that was unknown 10 years ago.

How Mobile Phones have become an Inconvenience

• Mental health: A study measuring the link between mobile phones and mental health found that teens who used phones the most were more likely to be anxious and depressed.
• Bullying: Social network and text message bullying is a new phenomenon brought about with the introduction of this technology. Cyberbullying, psychological harassment in text, social networks and instant messaging, is more often found between girls.
• Lack of sleep: If your kids are receiving texts and instant messages throughout the night, they are likely to be waking up and replying which will create bad sleeping habits and low attention spans at school.
• Dependence: One study finds that 37 percent of teens felt they wouldn’t be able to live without a mobile phone once they had it. This study also shows that the more friends a teen has, the more likely they are to feel dependent on their phone and let calls or text messages interfere with their daily schedule.
• Expense: Most parents who give their children a mobile phone are likely to experience bill shock at some stage if they don’t take control of their mobile phone expenditure. This is particularly relevant with the use of today;s smart phones and data usage, apps, social network access.

What Parents Should be Doing

• Determine why your kid needs a phone: Talk about its use for safety rather than as a status symbol. Manage when it can be used and who it can be used for. Parents need to also understand what pressures their children are feeling regarding owning a phone and how it will affect them at school.
• Develop a set of rules and responsibilities as a cell phone user: In providing your child with a mobile phone, you have the right to set the rules for its use : “Always answer calls from parents immediately.” “Always identify where and with whom you are.” Many parents set limits for younger children’s use and have their teens take responsibility for their own phone bills.
• Establish rules around mobile phone use at home: Children should be required to turn their phones off at night and keep them in a common area rather than allowing them to take them into their rooms, where they can talk or text message late into the night.
• Consider a child-friendly mobile phone for your child: Some phones made especially for kids allow you to control whom your child can call, or offer only “mom” and “dad” buttons so no other calls can be made.
• Teach your kids to only answer calls or view text messages from people they know: Like the internet, mobile phones are becoming a vehicle not only for bullying, but also for sexual predators and for scams.
• Help your kids save money: Consider purchasing a pre-paid plan with a limited number of minutes for your teens, and remind them to “budget” their minutes. Also, turning off text messaging and internet capabilities on your child’s phone will help keep bills low. This is particularly relevant for smart phones.

If you want to find appropriate prepaid plans for your kids, then we have done the work for you. Cheap plans with long expiry that puts you in control of your kids phone bills.

Article has been sourced from cmch.tv

My Mobile Watchdog is a new safety service aimed at parents so that they can monitor their child’s mobile phone usage. It allwos them to receive instant alerts about unsafe activity, including cyber bullying and contact with unknown (numbers) people. According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, 22 per cent of girls and 15 per cent of boys aged between eight and 11 own a mobile phone.

However most children are not content with just a run-of-the-mill handset, and demand the latest technology that gives immediate access to the internet. This usage is often unsupervised and can create a form of social underground that many parents don’t know exists.

My Mobile Watchdog logs and stores copies of all mobile phone activity, including text messages, phone calls, e-mails, picture messages.

The service was recently launched in Australia and has received quite a bit of publicity. It costs $14.95 per month and comes with unlimited alerts to your nominated email accounts and full access to the My Mobile Watchdog website.  Parents can access their e-mail at any time to see if alerts have been sent regarding unauthorised or unapproved contact with their child’s mobile phone.

Learn more here.

iiNet have just launched a safe online content platform, packed full of entertainment just for juniors called iiNet FreeZone Kids. Together with Roadshow Films, iiNet will be giving customers access to loads of children’s programs previously limited to TV or DVD. By visiting Freezone Kids, tots and tykes can channel flick through shows like The DoodleBops and LazyTown via Gekko TV (for kids aged 2-6); Cyberchase, 6teen and Stickin’ Around via iiguana (for 6 – 12 year olds); and a massive selection of video clips via UGoGo (for kids under 6). This one-stop-shop for children’s entertainment isn’t only safe but comes completely unmetered and at no additional cost for iiNet customers – meaning little tackers can enjoy Freezone Kids, without making a dent to monthly iiNet download quotas. Tune into Freezone Kids or learn more about Freezone.