Internet Safety-What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Child or Grandchild -

Internet Safety Should Be At The Top of Every Parent and Grandparent’s List of Concerns

(Disclaimer-This is a sponsored post but all thoughts and opinions are strictly my own. I only review products I believe in and this one is at the top of my list of recommendations for parents and grandparents.)

I want to start this post by saying that this may be one of the most important pieces I have ever published on NanaHood. Let me explain why… if you are a parent (or a grandparent raising your grandchild) it’s imperative that you know some important facts about cell phones and children.

Screen Time Addiction

First there is the concern of screen time addiction. More and more kids have cell phones than ever before and the amount of time children 8 years old and younger spend on phones or tablets has increased tenfold in just five years! (2017 study by Common Sense). The organization also found that 42 percent of children under 8 already have their own mobile device. That number was less than 1 percent in 2011.

Recently I sat next to a man and his son at our cell phone service provider. I was waiting to get my phone repaired and the dad and I started chatting. He was buying his son a smart phone for his birthday. The little boy was 6 years old. I must have raised my eyebrows or conveyed shock because the dad quickly said, “He’s extremely bright for his age and loves playing games on it.”

I didn’t know this man from Adam so I kept my opinions to myself but I had to bite my tongue. No matter how smart a 6 year old is I would never, ever give them their own smart phone but his child….his choice.

A Loaded Gun

Would you give your child or grandchild a loaded gun for their birthday?

That sounds like a ridiculous question because (A) Guns are extremely dangerous and (B) Young children aren’t mature enough to know how to operate a gun responsibly and (C) Even if they were raised around guns and have been going to target practice since they were toddlers (which I don’t recommend either) accidents happen. Frequently we hear on the news about children who found a parents gun and accidentally injured or killed another child.

Now think hard about what I am about to say….if you give your child or grandchild a cell phone without some way to control and check the device you might as well be giving them a loaded gun. Before you throw up your hands and say “that’s crazy” consider something that happened in a Utah classroom that caught the world’s attention and quickly went viral.

Teacher Asks Students About Cell Phones

A 9th grade teacher passed out index cards and ask her students this fill in the blank. “What my parents don’t know about cell phones is _______.” The teacher, Skipper Coates, posted their answers on her Facebook page. Her post has been shared over 35,000 and I can’t even count how many comments it’s received.

And here’s another one….

And just one more…..

You can read her viral Facebook post for yourself by clicking here and while you are there I suggest scrolling through the comments.

America is a very diverse country and everyone has different value systems and thoughts about how to raise their children. Some of the comments I agreed with and others were shocking. All I have to say about that is that it’s obvious this teacher hit a nerve with a lot of parents.

Where Do You Stand?

I bet the parents who read those post cards had no idea their child was staying up until 2 a.m. or being exposed to sexting and using foul language. And I bet they didn’t know about the bullying either because most kids won’t tell adults when they are being bullied and they sure won’t admit if they are bullying someone else.

You’d have to live in a cave or on a deserted island to not be aware that bullying has become a much bigger problem via social media.

Over 80% of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most common medium for cyber bullying.
68% of teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem.
81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.

These are just 3 alarming statistics and there is a ton of information online about how big this problem is.

What Can You Do To Protect Your Child or Grandchild

1.Talk, talk and talk some more about the Internet and social media.

2. Read this great post by a mom about how she is talking to her son about Internet safety.

3. Set rules and boundaries in advance and be consistent.

4. Don’t be naive about the power of social media and your child or grandchild’s friends. They are a kid. They will NOT tell you everything no matter how close you are. You are their parent or grandparent and if you really want to keep them safe and know what’s going on with their social media accounts then you should let WebSafety help you.

WebSafety

WebSafety is an app to help parents, protect children and help them use their mobile devices safely. It monitors where your kids are going, the pictures they send, who they contact and who’s contacting them on their phone according to rules you set up.

Some of you are probably thinking that this is an invasion of your child’s privacy. That’s not the way I look at it at all. Would you turn your 12 year old child loose in the middle of a city and say, “See ya, later. Be home by 9 p.m. Have fun!”

I hope you wouldn’t because you know and are aware of dangers that children don’t know about or else think that it won’t happen to them.

WebSafety monitors text messages and social media use. You can see what photos your kids are posting or just interacting with on Facebook and Instagram. If they venture off into dangerous ground or cross a boundary that you have talked about, then you get an alert. You (the parent or grandparent) set the boundaries with your child. WebSafety just makes sure they respect those boundaries.

It’s available on Apple and Android devices (including tablets). You get it free for a 30 day trial and then after that it’s $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year.

Before you go please watch this video about WebSafety and please consider purchasing it for you child. I can’t think of anything more important than keeping our children and teens safe, can you?

How strongly do I believe that all parents and grandparents should have this on their child’s phone? Enough that I will be recommending it to my sons and daughter and asking them to use it when my grandchildren are old enough to have cell phones.