There are many pros and cons to your child having a cell phone. There is peace of mind when your child has a cell phone, it allows you to be more connected with them when you’re apart. It gives you the opporotunity to contact them at any given time and vise versa. Along with peace of mind, comes the worry from a parent questioning “is my child safe” with inappropriate web content, cyber bullying to screen time addiction.
Luckily, communication and supervision can dramatically lessen the risks. How?
Understanding the 3 C’s:

• Contact: Does your child know the person they are friending on social media?
• Content: Is the content your child is watching/engaging in appropriate for their age?
• Conduct: Is your child being bullied or bullying others while being online?

Speaking to your child ahead of time about the 3 C’s and being present daily will be beneficial for all parties.

Using the Bark App:

Bark is an amazing app for parents to help monitor text messages, emails, YouTube and 24 different social media networks.  This app helps gain peace of mind for parents. You will get automatic allerts for cyberbullying, adult content, online predators, depression and more for only $9.00 a month. Bark is a great parent app giving parent the relief of keeping children safe online while building trust with their kids.
Get more information about Bark here.
Another wonderful rescourse for parents is the book called Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World. The book offers great advice on helping kids navigate through texting, gaming and social media. You can purchase the book on Amazon for $7.93 here.
We hope these tools were helpful for keeping your kiddos safe and protected with cell phones.
– Caring Nannies