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Kids & Cell Phones Tips
Cell Phone Battery Safety For Kids
When you give your children cell phone gift cards, discuss cell phone safety for kids. Proper cell phone battery care is important; over the last two years, 83 people were burned by exploding cell phones. In all cases, the battery was to blame, with a large percentage of the injuries caused by counterfeit batteries.
Avoid the counterfeit issue completely by getting batteries from your cell phone carrier, or directly from the manufacturer of the cell phone. Cell phone safety for kids means getting them the right equipment to charge their phones. Incompatible cell phone chargers can damage your battery.
Warn young cell phone users not to touch the battery with metal objects including keys, coins, or jewelry. Cell phone batteries can appear undamaged after getting wet or being dropped, tell your child to let you know if any of these things occur, and replace the battery immediately.
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Verizon Wireless Tip: A Kid's First Cell Phone
When you hand your child a cell phone gift card they will be grinning ear to ear, because they can pick out a cell phone of their choosing. There are cell phone gift cards for games and music, too. However, that first cell phone is a big step. A common problem with kids and cell phones is text messaging, but there are options available to help manage this service. You can block this feature completely from the cell phone from the start or have it blocked later if you decide text messaging is being abused. Many cell phone providers do warn customers that if a text messaging package is suspended in the middle of a billing cycle, the number of text messages included will be prorated. In this case, you may pay more overage charges than if you had left the feature active. Unlimited text messaging packages are more expensive, but the extra cost may be worth the peace of mind to know your child won't exceed the monthly text limit. Consider starting your child off with a kid's prepaid cell phone. Think of it as “training wheels” for cell phone use. When the minutes are gone, the phone is deactivated until it has more minutes added. It can be an excellent way to teach your child how to monitor their cell phone use. Of course, another way to teach your child about cell phone use is to show them how to use their cell phone gift card to pay a balance.
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Kid Friendly Cell Phones
What makes a cell phone "kid friendly?" A model such as the firefly mobile phone for kids has parental controls, only five buttons, and password-protected call screening. These all add up to ease of use for the kids, and peace of mind for parents.
Many kid friendly cell phones have limited dialing options and call screening features to permit only calls from numbers you choose. One feature to pay special attention to is the "emergency" button on your child's first cell phone. The emergency 911 button on some models makes it all too easy to accidentally dial 911 when handling the phone. If you suspect that a prominent emergency button will be a problem, shop for a kids cell phone with a more streamlined handset.
If you need Chaperone service or a GPS locator feature for the phone, be sure to double-check the specs on that kid-friendly cell phone. If GPS is included, it will be listed in the technical specifications of that phone.
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Verizon Wireless Tip: Making Chaperone Service Effective
Chaperone service allows you to identify your child's location using Global Positioning Service technology. It also allows you to keep tabs on your child by using your computer. This is a huge step in cell phone safety for kids, but some forget that chaperone service tracks the cell phone itself, not the child. The system will only work if a child takes the cell phone with them. The key to making chaperone service an effective tool is to build the cell phone into your child's daily routine. Having him or her call you at a specified time each day when they are away from the house helps get you both into the routine, and helps kids and cell phones stay together.
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Can I Use A Cell Phone As A Learning Tool For My Child?
When you give your child a cell phone gift card, you have a tool for staying in touch with your child, but a mobile phone for kids can also be an excellent learning tool. When you buy your child a Firefly cell phone for kids, or an LG Migo, use it to introduce them to number recognition.
Let your child help you when you dial the phone. Taking a little extra time to let your child help you enter the numbers will also help them remember the cell phone's key designations. Text messaging is also an excellent opportunity to learn. Studies done at Tokyo Denki University and Kent State have found cell phones to be useful tools in language development and communication skills. There are many creative ways to put a cell phone to work as part of your child's learning experience.
