Should You Purchase A Phone Without Internet for Your Kid?

no internet phone, phone withouth internet

One of the parents’ biggest decisions today is when to give their child a smartphone. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until age 13 to provide a child with a phone. Meanwhile, a Stanford Medicine Study found that by age 12.6, 75% of children had a smartphone. While many children younger than this have used tablets or played on their parent’s smartphones, owning a personal electronic device can increase the likelihood of exposure to dangerous content and activity.

Technology like smartphones has drastically changed how we interact with the world and society has yet to put proper safeguards in place.

When the automobile was first invented, there were no seatbelts or airbags. As time passed and people suffered from catastrophic accidents, governments put these safety measures in place and created laws that forced us to protect ourselves. Just like these safeguards, we must protect our children from the internet. And until society and government make these protections mandatory, parents must take protective measures into their own hands.

Our children use the internet for their school work, learning to read, write, and do math. These apps and websites are accessed at school on supervised and protected devices. With the help of companies like MMGuardian, you can do the same thing at home.

You can take the same approach by allowing your child to have a phone without internet access, like the Bark Phone. A no-internet phone is a great first step in dipping one’s toes in the water of owning a personal electronic device. In addition, teaching your child appropriate and safe internet interaction is a critical step in growing up in this digital era.

This article contains affiliate links that generate a small commission. I became an affiliate for Bark after dealing with many issues related to phones and the internet in my work as a School Counselor.

Consider these maturity markers if you are trying to assess whether your young child is ready to own a phone without internet access.

Skills that demonstrate your child is ready for a phone:

Getting good grades in school
Participating in extra-curricular activities
Using other electronics with care
Doing chores and cleaning up after yourself at home

Start them on the phone without internet.

A no internet phone gives them the essential functional aspects of a phone and can look like a smartphone without the temptation of the internet. MMGuardian developed a Samsung Smartphone that can operate without the internet or with filtered web only.

Bark’s phone has features parents love while looking like a typical smartphone that kids aren’t embarrassed to own.

The Bark phone looks like a smartphone and has:

GPS that your kids can’t turn off
The option for no internet or filtered internet
No social media or monitored social media
Child Saftey Alerts on texts and pictures
Call Block for unknown numbers and other contacts
Find the phone siren and remote lock and wipe

I wish I found the Bark smartphone before I gave my daughter her first phone years ago. The peace of mind I would have had knowing that Bark could alert me of any trouble while also giving me a way to find and shut down the phone if it was lost. This feature alone would have saved me money on purchasing phone insurance.

Our young children are some of the favorite targets of hackers, online predators and cyberbullies.

If you’re like me and already gave your preteen a phone, you can still get protection by using the Bark app. It can monitor their use and protect them. The app is installed on your phone as well as your child’s. From your device you can control several features on your child’s phone and even receive comprehensive reports on their social media usage, website browsing and messaging.

The parental control app can implement the features of:

Web filtering –

Blocks inappropriate content and keeps the user off of websites you choose by category or specific URLs.

Message monitoring –

You can get detailed reports from SMS messages to apps like WhatsApp and Kik.

Safety alerts –

If a message on your child’s phone is indicative of cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, violence, or inappropriate pictures, you will be alerted right away.

Location tracking –

Monitor your child’s location to ensure they are where they are supposed to be and to find the phone if it gets lost or left behind.

App control –

This feature allows you to turn off certain apps at select times and to require approval for downloading apps.

Restrict Device functions

You can disable the camera, restrict R-rated movie downloads, and even wipe the phone clean of data should it be stolen.

When your child is begging to have a phone, and you feel they have demonstrated enough responsibility to be ready for this next milestone, be ready with the help of Bark. Opting for a phone without internet is the safest option, a great first step for preteens. However, if you choose to use a web-enabled phone instead, download the Bark app and know that you are protecting your child from the dangers of the internet while teaching them responsible personal device usage.

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