Digital world is diverse and kids are showing their great interest in exploring the cyber space. Although it might be more and more common for you to discover that kids are holding smartphones when you walk on the streets, parents uphold different views towards the smartphones on kids’ hand. Some parents are in favor of the exploration by giving kids more freedom to leverage mobile phones. However, others hold negative attitudes to teens’ usage of smartphones. We believe many of you also wonder if this is the right decision to allow your kids to use smartphones. We have grasped your mind and this post will help you analyze the merits and demerits of giving smartphones to your kids. Hope you can do the right decision after reading the post carefully!
Advantages of giving smartphones of your kids
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Unlock the door to new world and knowledge
With the support of smartphones, kids are kept informed of the updated international news within their hands. Smartphones can serve as a channel for kids to have an outlook on the outside world, broadening their horizons and helping them portray the correct outlook on the world. Of course, some fake news on the Internet might do harm to kids’ healthy growth, so it is necessary for us to give proper guidance to our kids before and when they are using smartphones to browse the news. At least, they should have the capacity to distinguish right from wrong.
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Keep instant online contact
This might be one of the primary reasons why parents tend to give smartphones to their kids. The endless emergence of social communicating platforms are expanding our ways to keep contact with our kids. With a few clicks and simple letters, you can communicate with your beloved children. When kids are hanging out with their friends, kids can maintain instant contact with parents. Some online social softwares also act as a platform for kids to share their happiness with others, which can make teenage life more colorful.
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Render Educational support
A wide range of educational apps that kids can download on their phones to help them learn more. Different teachers from all over the world can help tutor kids in various ways with just a few click of a button. Smartphones can expand learning methods tremendously once installing educational apps. What’s more, kids can also tailor their own specific lessons on the educational platforms, meeting their individual demands. More importantly, smartphones help the realization of online class during COVID-19. Not only can kids have online courses, but they can hand in their homework easily and conveniently with the help of smartphones.
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Help emergency response
Smartphones can be the bridge for keeping online contact. However, what if kids are encountering the emergency and they can’t reply to our messages？We even do not know exact location of them. Good news is that GPS positioning technology can help us track a cellphone location in a simple way. The flourishing phone locators can help you locate your kids via just a cellphone number. Capturing the exact location of kids can help you know about whether they encounter some difficulty on their way home, so that you can have an immediate emergency reaction.
To draw a conclusion, the advent of digital era revolutionizes many aspects of life, bringing countless advantages to our life. Other typical instances can include online shopping, food delivery and so on. Hidden demerits come with opportunities. Let’s look through the disadvantages in the next part.
Disadvantages of giving smartphones of your kids
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Immoderate utilization of the Internet
Kids are getting an easier access to the Internet with their smartphones. In reality, as it is hard for our young teens to control their usage of smartphones, they might be addicted to the smartphones. Immoderate utilization of the Internet might exert a negative effect on their physical health such as doing harm to their eyesight and lack of exercise. They addiction to the smartphones might make them reduce the face-to-face communication with us, intensifying our family relationship.
Other cons of immoderate utilization of the Internet might contain poor academic performance and malpractice. Therefore, set proper control measures to kids’ screen time is the kernel of usage of smartphones for our children.
Along with more access to the Internet, kids are also exposed to potential online risks like online scams, phishing, cyber bullying, etc. Online criminals are taking advantage of kids’ kind heart and lack of self-protection awareness, inducing kids’ mistaken belief. Some kids might confront with economic loss, others might experience psychic trauma. To deal with the online hidden threats, we should enhance kids’ self-protection awareness and ability to identify right and wrong through talking with them and setting a great example for them.
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Stranger dangers
Social communicating platforms are thriving and kids are keen on making more friends all over the world. They might be strangers in daily life, but they can be closest connection on cyber world. Driven by strong curiosity, kids are keen on meeting with their online friends. Sometimes, it might lead to troubles. A GPS-enabled cellphone locator can help detect the dangers kids might meet during the meeting-up instantly, keeping kids safer. More details about tracking your kids’ location can click in: find-my-phone.org
Summing-up
Here is a list of advantages and disadvantages of handing a smartphone to your kids, hoping it can help you determine the right decision. What’s more, you should realize that your kids will own their smartphones one day, so it matters more that you should help them form proper online behaviors!
