Many parents these days are buying smartphones for their children for a number of different reasons. One of the reasons why children have smartphones is so that they can easily keep in touch with their parents. If they are being picked up from school at the end of the day and the parent has to take a detour or can’t make it to the school gates, it is much more simple to send your child a quick text message or give him a quick call just to let him know what is happening. It’s also nice for children to be able to keep in touch with their parents throughout the day. Another reason why children might have smartphones is so that they can play on them at the weekend. Some children are only allowed to use their smartphones during the weekend instead of seven days a week. Here are some of the things to consider when buying your child a smartphone.

Why are you buying the phone? 

If you’re buying a smartphone for your child in order to “shut him up” and “keep him quiet” while you’re busy, you’re buying it for the wrong reasons. There are plenty of other things to occupy him without having to spend extra money on a new device. For example, help him to find a good hobby, such as reading, writing, painting, drawing, playing a sport or playing a musical instrument. However, if you’re concerned about your child’s health and well-being during the day while he is away from you and you’d feel much more comfortable if you could keep in touch with him, that’s a perfectly good reason to purchase the phone. Another good reason would be if you felt that he was old enough and mature enough to have a smartphone in order to keep in touch with his friends, play games during the evenings and weekends and download some fun apps.  

Can you afford the smartphone? 

Most parents end up getting into debt in order to afford a brand new smartphone for their child; however, this doesn’t have to be the case. There are many cheaper options if you can’t afford the most expensive ones, and this might be something that you can talk over with your child in order for him to understand that he can’t always have the latest models! Cubot models are advertised widely, and you could even find a Cubot event which will tell you even more about these great phones. While they are good phones, they are not expensive, making these smartphones the perfect choice for those who are on a budget or don’t want to spend a lot of money on a gadget. 

Will it interfere with important things? 

Due to the nature of gadgets and children, it is very easy for computers, tablets and smartphones to interfere with the more important things in their lives, such as school work, home work, music practice and sports participation. You should make sure that the new smartphone doesn’t interfere with these important things, even though it will be a bit of a struggle for you, as a parent, sometimes. In order to achieve this, you should make sure that you are always in control of the phone from the beginning. If you feel your child is still quite young to have a phone and doesn’t need it when at school and outside, then you should put a pass code on the phone which the child does not know. By doing this, he can only access the phone when you give him permission and unlock the phone by putting in the code. Always make sure that you have a password for the iTunes account or Google Play account, since many parents have found themselves with a huge bill when their children have been playing games and accidentally or purposely buying lots of in-app features and items. 

Before you give the phone to your child, you should make him aware of the fact that this is not something he should be using all the time and allowing it to take up most of his spare time. Tell him that you will monitor how he progresses at school and with his other activities, and if there seems to be a drastic decrease after a while, you will have to consider whether or not the phone is really a good move for him.