If you have made the decision that your child is ready to have his or her own cellular phone, your next question is, naturally, which phone is the best. There are so many different phones out there, for both children and adults, with different levels of technology available.
When making this decision, it is very important for you to remember that there is a good side and a bad side to all of the extra “bells and whistles” that a high-tech cellular phone may include. Just because the phone offers more, it doesn’t mean that the phone is necessarily better for your son or daughter.
For example, some of the great ways that high-tech cell phones can be very beneficial to your child include the fact that some phones have a GPS tracking device built-in, to allow your child’s overall position to be tracked in case of emergency. Also, many parents have found that their kids are less likely to stray into areas where they don’t belong because they know their parents are watching.
Furthermore, additional technology in a child’s cell phone can mean the availability of a camera feature. There have been documented cases where potential abductors have been frightened off by children who have attempted to take their picture.
On the other hand, the more technology there is, the more chance there is for mischief or trouble. For example, many phones are equipped with internet capabilities. Should your child’s phone include this feature, then you will be opening him or her up to the ability to surfing the internet, chatting, and otherwise being active online without your watchful eye monitoring where s/he’s going and what s/he’s doing.
Additionally, teachers are now finding that cyber-cheating is the latest dishonesty struggle in the classroom. There are several ways that kids are using to find answers that they don’t have stored in their heads. Google searches, instant messaging, or even text messaging to kids in the classroom or elsewhere can get them the answers they don’t ethically deserve. This temptation can be overwhelming for many students, and being caught in academic dishonesty can be detrimental to your child’s academic career.
It is also important to consider that additional communication technology also opens up the doors to a whole new arena of bullying.
Sometimes more isn’t necessarily better, and you will need to carefully decide what cell phone technologies are right for your own child when selecting the right cell phone for him or her.