Smartphones for children: useful tips for safe use!
The smartphone and children: how to behave so that our little ones can make the most of new technologies, without running any kind of risk? Denying children the use of smartphones today would be rather anachronistic and also quite senseless: the choice of those parents who decide to guide children to discover technology, helping them to use it in the best way is decidedly more intelligent.
Of course, it is useless to deny that the world of the web hides more than a "pitfall for children and leaving them completely free, without any kind of limit and control, with their smartphones, is certainly not recommended: let's try to understand together what the the best way for them to be able to use such an important tool nowadays for socializing and communication, but without running any danger. Here are our tips!
1. Don't use your smartphone as a babysitter for your children!
Yes to smartphones for children, but not as a babysitter! Putting a cell phone in his hand just to entertain him or to calm him down is not appropriate behavior. It would be good, however, for children to use the smartphone together with their parents, for this technological tool to become an "opportunity for exchange, discussion or fun together!
A study conducted by Boston Medical University has shown that using smartphones to calm children harms their emotional development. It is important that children learn to calm themselves by managing their emotions independently. Instead, using a smartphone to distract them can generate psychological short circuits.
The use of the smartphone must not replace the interaction with others: the risk is that of encountering delays in the development and use of language, as well as a lack of linguistic knowledge. However, everything depends not on the tool itself, but - in fact - on the use made of it. Smartphones can be excellent means of learning and playing, but their use must be combined with other kinds of activities: board games, fantasy , and a lot of dialogue with parents. Parent-child interaction is irreplaceable! Okay, so let him play with your smartphone, but not every time he might play with you instead.
2. Choose a smartphone that's right for children!
In order for children to be able to use the smartphone in complete safety, it is necessary to provide them with one with an offer designed especially for them, which allows them to have fun without running any danger! Guaranteeing fun and safety for your child is far from impossible. On the market you will find the solution that suits you, such as the TIM JUNIOR Pack offer.
TIM JUNIOR Pack is specially designed for the needs of parents and children: the little ones will love it, while you won't have to worry about them taking risks while browsing the web. With only € 59 for 12 months, less than € 5 / month, your child will be guaranteed 3 GB (5 GB if you activate the offer by June 15), unlimited chat, 100 minutes of phone calls, 100 SMS, unlimited minutes to a TIM number and in addition the TIM Protect services for browsing in safety and TIM I love games for games and fun.
TIM I love games is supplied by Gameloft, the world's leading game provider: your children will have a blast with all the games included in the offer. TIM Protect, on the other hand, will allow you to safeguard your children's internet browsing and make it easier. correct use. By configuring the "Family Rules" functions, in fact, it will be possible, even remotely, to set filters to protect children from inappropriate content on the Internet (even in WI-FI), limit the applications they use and set limits times daily TIM Junior PACK is truly the perfect gift for your children, on any occasion!
3. Teach your children that the virtual is real!
Digital education is fundamental for children: a parent must not take away their smartphone, but teach them to use it in the right way, with a sense of responsibility and with respect for others. When you guide your child to discover the web on his mobile, teach him that there is no difference between the real and the virtual: insulting someone on the internet or making fun of them is as wrong as doing it in reality!
So immediately educate your child to recognize cyberbullying: sooner or later he will end up running into negative behaviors on the web anyway, and he better be prepared! Show him how to behave properly and how to stay away from all forms of violence intelligently. In this way he will grow aware and able to walk away on his own and defend himself from risks.
Learning to use the internet today is essential: if you help your child to do it immediately in a constructive way, he will be forever grateful!
4. Make him understand that everything stays online!
Another fundamental lesson to be given to a child who begins to use the smartphone is the following: everything he writes or posts on the web will remain online forever! Making him understand this concept is important because it will allow you to make him responsible for the use of the mobile phone, avoiding posting unsuitable photos or videos, making comments that can be easily traced and so on.
Explaining to your child that the web keeps track of all his information will help him understand the importance of his own privacy and intimacy, concepts that today are increasingly underestimated.
5. Create free internet moments and spaces!
Ok to use the smartphone, but limits must be set: it is unthinkable that children always use it, in any place and at any time! So he creates for him internet-free spaces and times, in which it goes without saying that the mobile phone cannot be used.
You could, for example, prohibit its use in the bedroom or at the table or, again, on the sofa in the living room: while you are together it is important to chat, enjoy time with your family without distractions. That internet-free place could become a space for you alone, in which to feel good together!
Time must also be limited: better not to exceed two hours a day, not consecutive. Children have to move and do something else every half hour in order not to damage their psycho-physical health. Another moment in which the smartphone should be banned is, for example, when studying ... During homework, it is better to remove the wi-fi so as not to get distracted!
It may seem restrictive, but the limits will allow him to enjoy and appreciate more the moments of play with the smartphone, without however undermining his ability to concentrate and relate to others. Always remember that it is not the medium that is the problem, but how it is used!
