This month is Internet Safety Month and as a mother, this is definitely an important issue for me. Hayden may only be 4 years old but he is already a master at the iPad and my iPhone. I’ve had to take extra precautions to protect him from any inappropriate content he may come across while playing with a device hoping to play with the latest Mickey Mouse Clubhouse app.
With summer here, kids of all ages are using wireless devices to access content and connect with family and friends. According to recent studies, 52 percent of all children eight and younger have access to mobile devices at home and nearly 80 percent of children younger than five use the internet on at least a weekly basis.
Luckily, Verizon Wireless is taking measures to ensure that its customers of all ages are safe and that parents have a piece of mind. These Parental Control tools, also known as Verizon Safeguards, provide the comfort, control and ability to create the digital experience that is right for any family.
Family Locator gives parents the ability to:
· Check on the location of a family member’s phone from their PC, phone or tablet.
· Receive arrival and departure updates for each family member
· Create scheduled location updates for each family member
· The service is available for $9.99 a month for up to 10 lines on an account. Customers and employees can enjoy the first month of Family Locator FREE through 8/15!
Usage Controls allows parents to monitor their children’s device usage by:
· Controlling monthly usage of voice minutes, messaging, data and content purchases like ringtones, games and downloads with Usage Allowances.
· Setting times of day when family members cannot call, message, or access data with Time Restrictions. Note: this feature always allows communication with Trusted Contacts.
· Blocking unwanted phone numbers, email addresses and screen names from being sent or received withBlocked Contacts.
· Usage Controls are just $4.99 per month per line.
Content Filters provide parents with the flexibility to control what kind of content their children can access through their Verizon Wireless device by choosing one of the below age-based filter settings for each line on their account. The setting can be adjusted easily at any time through My Verizon.
- C 7+: Content recommended for children aged 7 and older
- T 13+: Content recommended for teens aged 13 and older
- YA 17+: Content recommended for young adults aged 17 and older
- No Filter: Content recommended for adults aged 18 and over
- This is a free service.
I absolutely love that Verizon Wireless offers all of these options for their devices. More and more children are hooked on technology and this is a great way to make sure they are only viewing the educational stuff. And I know that when Hayden is older I totally am going to be enabling the Family Locator!
Do you use any of the above features on your phone? What do you do to keep your children safe on the internet?
Disclosure: I received no compensation for the above post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This sounds like a great tool for parents!
I definitely think so!
This is a BIG worry for me. My son is really young yet but LOVES anything electronic! Thank you for sharing this! This will help me out a lot!
I’m glad it could help!
What an awesome service! Especially like the family locator options but seems a little pricey on top of the monthly fees for phone service.
I’d love the option to turn it on when needed and get charged for that!
This is a great service. However, wow. I want to know what a 5 year old (and younger) is doing on the internet. There are how many toys to play with and/or books to read. This is why a child’s imagination is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Until my children have a true NEED for the internet (i.e. homework), they are not going to be on it. There is NO reason that a TODDLER should be on the internet.
Since my husband creates educational apps for children, there are many great apps that I have downloaded for my son, who is 4. There are great games that encourage learning the alphabet, numbers and so much more! There are storybooks that encourage reading along or just reading by yourself. My son attends speech therapy where they use the iPad and they also use it his classroom.
My son has an amazing imagination (in fact, his teachers and therapist are always praising him for it) and we of course play with toys, board games and spend many hours outside playing. However, with the way technology is the way of the future (my husband attends many conferences of using technology in the classroom) I’m excited that my son will be knowledgeable and ahead in the classroom since he knows how to use these tools.