No tablet or phone for toddlers.
Scans show the brain develops differently when children use tablets/phones than
when they use paper books. Use the TV so you can actually see and hear what
they are watching.
Get a Gabb wireless phone (or
equivalent) with no Internet access until your child is well into the
teen years. We recommend sixteen. Kids can take photos, call, and text, but
cannot send photos by text. It is a well-thought-out way to sidestep most
dangers completely. Parents decide when to allow their children to use the
Internet.
Then, a Bark Android phone for
older teens will track and report dangerous emails, texts, and posts on that
phone. If they slip and refer to something dangerous, they are doing on another
device, it will flag parents. This is the only phone that teens cannot disable
parental controls.
A Bark Home WiFi router can block any
device's access to social media, internet gaming, and adult content. The Safe
Search setting is good for homework as it never returns dangerous links. We
recommend the whole family use one group setup. Parents can turn off WiFi on
their phones if they want more access.
For teens who already have Internet access on their phones, we
recommend cancelling just the "data" portion of their cell phone
plan. Then they can only access the Internet by WiFi, which limits their time
on social media. Then, collecting phones at dinner and charging in the parents'
bedroom further limits screen time. We urge teens to just text,
never private message. All kinds of criminals fake everything on social media,
but they will not text because it identifies who they are and where they are.
Ways tech-savvy teens get around the best parental controls:
Get a second secret phone, with or without a cell plan. Counter this by not allowing your teens to have those USB chargers. Only parents can charge devices in their bedroom. The second phone's battery will run out, making it useless. Ask schools not to allow children to charge phones. Have social media accounts that parents follow, as well as fake accounts called finstas, that parents are unaware of. Counter by using photos from the child's accounts to do Google photo searches, looking for fake accounts. Use the library, a friend's home computer, or borrow a friend's phone. Get to know your child's friends and parents. Encourage friends to come to your house instead. Encourage libraries to have teen computers with heavy controls and limit access to adult-only computers.
Other resources on Internet safety.
