Protecting Yourself


Perhaps you've helped to protect your child from online dangers by keeping the computer in an open place in your home where you can occasionally check on things. Now consider for a moment that the mobile phones kids carry today are really small computersones that you might have taken no precautions for.

Many cell phones have advanced Internet services available, the ability to communicate with anyone at any time, and are completely private. Because children will be on their own with their cell phones, you have to instill in them an understanding about the potential dangers of communicating with anybody they don't know, broadcasting personal information, opening images or files they receive, swapping copyrighted information, or exposure to inappropriate content.

Guidelines for Safe Mobile Computing

Here are some discussion guidelines and possible rules of the road for you and your children to consider if they are using mobile devices:

  • Your child's phone number automatically becomes their instant message address, and this can be easily spammed or used to identify children to predators. Children should never ever communicate with strangers in any way through their phone. They should not answer instant messages, text messages, accept downloads, or send videos. They should never give a phone number to strangers or post a mobile phone number online.

  • Protect the phone with a password or PIN so others can't use it without permission.

  • Bullying isn't okay. Ever. Explain the consequences if your children engage in it, and ask them to tell you if it happens to them.

  • Many parents prefer prepaid phone plans to monthly bills, to set clear spending limits and avoid surprises on their phone bill. One safety consideration in choosing a prepaid plan is whether you can request a monthly statement detailing who called your child, who your child called, and what they might have purchased through their phone. If the carrier cannot provide this overview for a prepaid plan, you might prefer using a standard billing plan so you can review the bill for potential issues.

  • It can be fun to walk around flashing a fancy phone, but as with flashing any prestigious object, this can make a child a target for theft. When they aren't using it, the phone should be kept out of sight. If they wouldn't wave their wallet in public, they shouldn't wave their phone around.

  • If a phone gets stolen, report it to your carrier and the police right away. If you haven't already written down the phone's serial number and stored it in a safe place, do it now. Check your manual or ask your provider if your phone is GSM based. If it is, write down both the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number that can be found by entering *#06# into the phone or on the label on the back of your battery and the serial number. You will need this information when you call the police and your carrier to get your phone service stopped.

  • Consider carefully whether tracking technologies are appropriate for your family. Remember that there are two kinds of location services: harmless active services that help you locate restaurants, theaters, and so on; and passive services that allow an individual phone to be tracked. Many of these latter types of applications are free of charge, and both kids and adults download them so their friends, and friends of their friends, can see where they are. However, you should consider carefully whether you feel it is appropriate for their online contacts, who might include people they've never met, to be able to track them. Many companies now tout this as a great way for parents to know where their kids are (in itself, this might be overly invasive, depending on their age). However, this is also potentially a great way for predators to know where kids (or you) are, or for an abusive harasser, spouse, or boyfriend to track you (or your child).

    Think About It

    Tracking technologies only track the phone, not your child. In many cases, it's just as easy to call your children and ask where they are as it is to track them.


    Find Out More

    Check out the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) guidelines at http://files.ctia.org/pdf/16WirelessContentClassification.pdf. The CTIA made this statement about the need for these guidelines:

    "With the wide variety of content including video, games, music, and ringtones available to wireless subscribers, the cellular industry recognized its responsibility as content distributors to proactively develop the tools and controls consumers need to make informed choices when accessing carrier content. The industry's work culminated in the development of the 'Wireless Content Guidelines'..."


  • Find out if your kids swap downloaded content with others. Advise them that if the material is copyrighted, it might be illegal for them to do so. If content sent to them is inappropriate, help them understand they should come to you for help in solving the issue. Sharing pornographic content is often an early step in the predatory grooming process of a child, establishing a way to reward children and to introduce steadily more graphic sexual images and normalize sexual behaviors for a child. Report it to your carrier and the police should that be warranted.

  • Your kids should be careful about using their mobile device's photo or video technology to send pictures or videos of themselves to anybody they don't know. Even when shared with somebody they know, pictures and videos should not include anything that might embarrass them. Once the picture or video is sent, they will no longer have control over where it goes next. If they aren't comfortable with it being sent around their school or to you, they shouldn't send it (or create it).

  • Many children enjoy playing games on their mobile devices. Some of these games are single-player games, and some are hosted online where children can interact with other players. If they are playing interactive multiplayer games, your kids need to know safe chatting rules, and they need to know which games are appropriate for their age.

  • Some mobile devices are marketed primarily as gaming consoles. These might have Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards so they can communicate with other players. Check the features of such a device before you buy it, and consider your choices with your family's needs in mind.

  • Children might use their phone as a place to store information or images that they don't want their parents to know about. Some phones can now hold quite a lot of data, and phones that use memory cards can store even more. Sit down with your child to review their content as appropriate. You might choose to simply not purchase a phone that uses memory cards in order to limit the amount of content that can be stored.

  • Help kids understand that they need to read the fine print before subscribing to premium-rate services to buy ringtones or games. Kids sometimes buy a ringtone for $2 and unknowingly sign up with a subscription service for $12 a month. Some of these are genuine services but others are scams.

Taking It Step by Step

A graduated approach to mobile device ownership and features is a good idea. If you're going to buy a mobile device for a child under 10, you might want to choose something designed for young children, such as the Firefly, which has limited and controlled capabilities.

When you're satisfied that your children understand the risks, and you are confident that they will turn to you for help if a problem arises, graduate them to the next level of features. At some point you have to let them fly on their own, and this milestone almost always comes before parents feel ready.

Start reviewing data stored on your children's phones early on, so it feels normal and not intrusive. Trying to initiate this when your kids are teens might be difficult if not impossible, because they're likely to feel like you're invading their privacy. Striking a balance isn't easy but it's worth the effort.

Good communication with your child and reassurance that if problems arise they won't automatically have their mobile device taken away will make kids more likely to turn to you for help when things go wrong. It's better to solve the problem and use what's happened as a teachable moment than to just blame the child.



Look Both Ways. Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
ISBN: 0735623473
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157
Authors: Linda Criddle

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net