Purchase guide for smartphones for parents

The smartphones They have become an article in high demand by teenagers and even pre-teens. This makes parents doubt, should I buy one? Is there any risk derived from the use of smartphones for the little ones? Can these dangers be prevented?

Smartphones: pre-purchase guide

Is there an appropriate time to accept the repeated request of our children to have their own smartphone? As in all fields of education, there are no magical recipes. Parents should analyze with judgment all the aspects that come into play before buying a smartphone for our children:

- Need for the smartphone. It may be necessary under certain circumstances to have a first mobile phone. Many parents feel more secure if their children can communicate with them, for example, because they travel alone long distances to attend class or practice sports in late hours. But if there is no real need, we must stop the impulse of desire as long as possible.


- The whole group has it. The problem that arises as parents is that smartphones are the new communication systems of our children with their environment. We will have to assess at what point it may be more harmful for them to keep them away from their peer group than to prevent them from accessing the networks.

- Personal maturity. One of the indicators that will allow us to check when our children can have a phone will be the degree of personal maturity. We need to make sure that they have reached that maturity because, once they have the device in hand, there will be no way to put doors to the field. So we must have trained them for critical thinking that allows them to choose the good and discard the bad.


For those parents who have in mind to give away one of these products to their children, Trend Micro has developed a guide for parents to be aware of what they should know about these devices.

 

Personal information on smartphones

One of the risks of smartphones is the personal information that can be provided by the child through these devices. Before grant him One of these products, we must be aware of some issues such as the following:

Online information what he shares You have to make sure that you understand the risk of sharing information or content of a personal nature such as photographs, addresses, etc. through these devices.

-   Privacy Policy Of the device. It is worth reading the terms and conditions of the device and the operating system to know what information they store and share before agreeing to this agreement.


Configure privacy. Find out how to best protect the privacy of the child on your smartphone is a great help. In addition it is also important to constantly check that these techniques are continually reviewed if these standards are being met.

Location and geolocation: ease with the smartphone

Parents should also become familiar with the systems of GPS location of mobile devices. In case the terminal is hacked, a stranger can know the exact location of the child, something very dangerous. To avoid these problems you can adjust the accuracy with which the mobile locates its user and prevent the person who breaks into the smartphone can accurately know where the user is.

The danger of the smartphone camera

Another danger that mobile devices entail is the camera. This feature can allow strangers to remotely activate it and access the child's visual content. For this you have to be aware of several issues in this regard. The first of this is to assess whether a device with this option is really needed, that is, if the child who is going to receive the terminal really needs a model capable of taking photographs or simply allowing communication.

It is also convenient to change the settings of the mobile phone so that it does not start the camera mode by its own decision but it must be executed manually. This should only be used when taking a photo or recording a video and you have to make sure that this application is completely closed after it is used.

Parents should also talk with their children about the photographs they use and the risk of sharing them with others. You have to remember that you should only share data with people you trust and know, even on these occasions you have to be careful what you get to the other person and the degree of privacy of this content.

Damián Montero

Video: Top 5 Smartphones for Mom


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