What You Need To Do Before Giving Your Child Your Tablet Or Mobile Device--Besides Thinking Twice

It’s not uncommon to see more children of all ages using mobile devices. Remember that vignette that was being pushed through YouTube a couple of years ago showing the 2-year old trying to tap and swipe the front cover of a magazine, and then crying to her mother that it was broken?

With such rampant use of mobile technology by people of all ages, it is important to educate ourselves about how to protect our children when they are using our, or their own, devices. One thing that we all think about once in a while, but don’t always acknowledge, is just how recent these technologies are: It’s only been seven years since the introduction of the iPhone, and only three and a half years since the iPad. We simply do not understand the impacts and the myriad risks that these technologies impose—it will take time, but in the meantime, we need to be as educated and vigilant as possible.

Safety Priorities Regarding Small Children

• Keep your child safe from strangers and away from adult and violent material;
• Keep the device clean from malware and the data secured and private;
• Keep the device safe from physical damage

Advertising: An important thing is dealing with the sneaky advertising tags at the bottom of the screen of a video game or at the beginning of videos. Make sure you show your child the difference between advertising and the game or video itself; and instruct them to not click onto them. Talk to them about scams and fake contests that might show up. And if you’re adding new apps, it’s good to spend a few extra dollars for the ‘ad-free’ version to mitigate the risk of exposure to the above.

Mature Web Content: Browsing websites is commonplace. You can check your child’s web history, but they can also check yours: make sure that you have cleared your history before giving it to your child in the event that he/she is exposed to content that is too mature.

Security Settings: Security settings are great for limiting what your child can do. For example, turn off geo-location so games and apps cannot link directly to your physical location. Also consider blocking such web or internet access from your youngest child.

Safety and Use for Older Children

It’s not the age of the child, but his/her maturity that matters most. As children get older, they are under greater pressures and can fall prey to cyber-bullying, as in the recent case in the UK of a teen dying while ‘playing’ a drinking game with others online.  Here are some important things to talk to your kids about:

• Share their phone number only with family and close friends. Do not post it on social networking sites, or for contests or give it to just anyone who asks for it;
• Lock the phone with a PIN that your child keeps secret;
• Don't say or text anything that would harm somebody else, or that you don't want a permanent record of online for the rest of your life;
• Avoid clicking links in ads, texts or messages (even from friends) offering contest rewards, free prizes, etc.
• Monitor the use of Facebook and video chat sites--places where cyber-bullying can take place, or where your child may be manipulated into doing things that are either dangerous or he/she is not comfortable doing.

This is a very short list of things to keep your child(ren) safe. These technologies are changing very rapidly, and there are more risks involved in using them, especially for young children. Understanding the risks and doing all you can to mitigate them is simply an obligation when using and lending out mobile devices.