To buy or not to buy?
When it comes to cell phones and children, it wasn’t so long ago that parents were faced with the dilemma of whether or not to purchase a
cell phone for their teenagers
. Now, parents are facing the same decision. Only now they are
asking themselves this question for their elementary aged children as
young as five years
old.
While cell phones provided a new level of security by allowing
parents immediate access to their teens, they also allowed teenagers
immediate and constant
access to their friends (and all the implications that comes with
such social networking). Now the cell phone industry is targeting
pretweens with
marketing campaigns aimed at the 5 – 12 year old crowd. After all,
they may not control the purse strings but they can badger the holder of
the purse
strings incessantly!
So, back to our original question: to buy or not to buy? The options
of cell phones for young children have vastly improved offering way
more features in
the way of safety and parental controls.
Many of the cell phones targeting children under twelve
offer the parents complete control over their child’s usage. Parents
can program the phone (either directly or over the internet) to limit
who the child
can call or receive calls from. Instead of a numeric keypad most
models have buttons parents can program with numbers such as mom or
dad’s cell phone,
home, or grandparents. Many of these
kid-friendly phones
also have a designated button for 911 that can instantly access
emergency services. Most models have a pin-protected address book that
allows parents to
program up to 20 numbers that the child can receive calls from.
Another great safety feature is the GPS tracking
function. While this may cost an extra fee, it is well worth the
peace of mind it offers parents when their children are out of their
sight. This feature
allows parents to track their child’s exact location over the
internet. It can literally be a life saver to a young child who has
gotten lost or been
abducted. On some models, this feature also includes designated zone
notification. This feature allows parents to set zone limits of where
their child can
move within. If the child moves outside of a set zone, a text will
be sent to a parent’s cell phone notifying them of their child’s
movements.
Some other parent-friendly features include setting limits on length
of phone calls, times of day and days of weeks that the phone can be
used, and
limiting text and picture messaging (if these features are
available).
