Kid Friendly Parent Approved Cell Phones

Parents today have many responsibilities and it is very difficult to keep children safe whether they are at home or away from home. Children gain access to information at an alarming rate. Even if the child is totally trustworthy the parental control of cell phones can monitor predator abuse when and if it happens. Once you can see if abusive calls are being received you can do something about it.

Do young children really need cell phones? This question may not have a good answer but parents are bombarded by their children begging for one just the same. Of course the reasons given by the kids are often the very reasons parents may be hesitant.

Kids Reasoning:

• All of the other kids have one.
• It would be so cool to have my own cell phone.
• What if I have an emergency?

Parents Reasoning:

• A cell phone for a young child is expensive and is it a necessary expense?
• Is it safe for a young child to have unsupervised time on a cell phone?
• I would be willing - for safety reasons - for my young child to have a cell phone.

It is a fact that many young children do have cell phones and it is a fact that children want to be like their friends. They love to compare and they love to show off their newest gadgets. Unfortunately young children are not always thinking about safety and to put it bluntly, they have short attention spans. Loss, damage and inappropriate use of the cell phone are considerations for the parents.

There are cell phones designed for younger children. There will be an age however; that a cell phone that a parent would feel comfortable with will not please the child. A child age 5 to 8 would typically be pleased with a cell phone with parental controls such as the Firefly, the Wherifone G560 or maybe the Tic Talk by Leap Frog. The missing keypad, the limited call list (incoming and outgoing), no internet access and the GPS parent tracking would not be deal breakers.

• Firefly (Firefly Mobile) - parental controls include - incoming and outgoing calls, call blocking of anyone not on list, call waiting and a missed call notification.
• Wherifone G560 (Wherifly Wireless)- GPS location by internet and text messaging, programmed outgoing and incoming calls and emergency "SOS" button.
• Tic Talk (Enfora) - parental controls include - incoming and outgoing calls, control amount of talk time, control when the calls can be made and received and parent can send messages such as a to-do list to the Tic Talk. The controls can be edited whenever you like by visiting a website.

When kids reach 9 to 14+ years old the story begins to change. When children get to the age that they want to freely communicate with their friends and the world their parents are facing a bigger decision. Parents are also facing a more difficult time finding viable options for keeping their kids safe when letting them have a cell phone of their own. Not only is the child able to communicate with friends and family - but through a cell phone bullies and predators have access to them as well.

• Firefly Mobile flyPhone - Still have parental controls but also allows for text/ multimedia messaging. It has a keypad, can store up to 500 names and numbers and it is an MP3 player.
• Sanyo SCP-300, Sanyo SCP-2400, Sanyo SCP-7000 and Sanyo SCP-8400 have settings that restrict incoming and outgoing calls.
• Alltel Axcess Web - limits web sites and chat rooms that children can access on their Alltel cell phones

I guess a parent could just insist that if a cell phone is needed then one of the above mentioned phones are the only options - take them or leave them. But, when a parent needs the ability to keep tabs on their kids when they are away from home, the parent may go for other cell phones if they have another option to have some parental control.

Most any cell phone can be used in conjunction with 3^rd party parental controls. Some of these include:

• Radar (Your Kids Mobile Watchdog) - parents can setup contact list on the website which replaces your child's cell phone contact list, create to-do-list and reminders through the website to be displayed on child's cell phone
• AT&T's Smart Limits - includes Surf Smart (limits web sites), Wireless Smart (limits child's call usage and online usage)

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I have searched for similar programs but have not come up with any others. Some that I found are no longer offered. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with further information on this subject (NO SPAM PLEASE!).

Just because a parent can track a child's location or their every phone call or multimedia message does not mean that it will constantly be the priority. But, if it were my child I would love to have the option to check in every once in a while to keep them safe.