Mobile Phones

What do I need to know about mobile phones?

Mobiles are a fact of life for many young people and smartphones, like the Android and iPhone, are becoming particularly popular. According to Ofcom, 3 per cent of 5-7 year olds in the UK, 13 per cent of 8-11s, and around one third of 12-15s own a smartphone.

As a parent, no doubt you like knowing that your son or daughter can contact you and you can contact them at any time on their mobile. For your child, their mobile is vital for staying in touch with friends, accessing entertainment and much more.

If they have a smartphone, they probably use it to send and receive emails, update their social networking profile or blog, watch videos, look up things on websites and take photos.

The figures speak for themselves – for example, a quarter of children aged 8-15 in the UK who own a smartphone say that they regularly use it to visit social networking sites (Source: Ofcom).

Did you know?

Research by Gartner reveals that 54 million smartphones were purchased worldwide in the first three months of 2010 and, according to Pew Internet, mobiles will be the main way most people around the world connect to the internet for by 2020

Smartphones have really captured people’s imagination in recent years as they give you a mini-computer in your pocket. It’s no longer a case of just making calls and texts, now you use your mobile to get exciting applications (apps), access the Web, stay in touch with your friends in new ways, navigate your way to new places and much more.

As mobiles become even more powerful – with larger memories and greater processing power – you and your kids will be able to do even more with them.

Alongside all these positives, you need to be aware of the potential mobile and internet safety risks your children might face. For example, they could:

  • Access inappropriate and harmful content on the Web or someone could send them a text or photo that upsets them
  • Run up large bills by making lots of calls or signing up to premium rate services, such as ringtone downloads
  • Receive threatening messages via their mobile (cyberbullying)
  • Lose or have their mobile stolen
  • Use their mobile to take naked or intimate photos of themselves and text them to their boyfriend or girlfriend (known as sexting)
  • Use their mobile while walking or cycling, which could increase the risk of being involved in an accident. If they use their mobile while driving, they’re breaking the law
  • Be located by strangers because of the location services on their mobile
  • Use their mobile in public places where it might not be appropriate and take photos of people without their permission

Recognising these potential risks to younger mobile users, your mobile provider should be able to provide advice, support and built-in features to help you minimise them. For example, the leading mobile companies in the UK:

What can I do about mobile phones?

  • Take a look at Childnet’s checklist before you buy your child a mobile – that way you can be sure the handset and price plan are appropriate for their age and maturity
  • Decide whether you want them to use Pay As You Go (where they pay for calls and texts themselves) or whether you’d rather sign up for a contract so that you receive an itemised monthly bill – we’d advise the latter for younger children, in particular
  • Check whether Parental Controls are set as default on your child’s mobile – if not, ask for them to be switched on so they can’t access inappropriate and harmful content
  • Understand how your son or daughter could be bullied (or could bully someone else) via a mobile by reading our article about cyberbullying
  • Learn about sexting in our article about exploring sexual identity – it’s a growing trend among young people where they exchange naked or intimate photos and videos by text and email and it’s something you need to be talking to your kids (especially teenagers) about
  • Check whether your child’s mobile has Bluetooth – if it does, it’s advisable to turn it off, particularly for younger children. Read our Bluetooth article for more information
  • Get information about location services so that you can talk to your child about it
  • Read our article about mobile theft and accident prevention, then talk to your child about how to keep their mobile safe from thieves and how to use it responsibly
  • Make sure they know what premium rate services (which cost more than a standard call rate) are and how the costs can mount up – you can find more information about this and the premium rate services regulator PhonepayPlus in our mobile costs article
  • If you’re concerned about the potential impact of mobiles on your child’s health, get the latest information in our mobiles and health article
  • Read the Terms of Use and safety and privacy policies of your mobile network provider so that you know what action you can take if something goes wrong

Where can I go for more information and support about mobile phones?

  • Read this Guardian article about smartphones
  • You can find the European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children here and the UK Code of Practice for the Self-Regulation of New Forms of Content on Mobiles here
  • Ofcom provides useful guides for parents about Parental Controls on mobiles and mobile location services
  • Visit the Phonebrain website with your child to teach them about premium rate services
  • PhonepayPlus regulates premium rate services in the UK
  • Thinkuknow offers internet safety advice
  • Vodafone provides advice for parents, including details of its Content Control

How old are your kids?

What you need to know to get started

  • 5-7 years old

    Technology is part of your child's life before they start primary school. They're probably using the computer, the internet and interactive TV for fun - watching programmes on the CBeebies channel and website or taking part in the Club Penguin chat rooms...but they still need adult guidance and supervision.

    Read more

  • 8-11 years old

    If you have 8-11 year old children, your house is probably full of technology - PlayStation, Nintendo, iPod...the list goes on. In fact, research shows that 8-11 year olds in the UK have an average of four media devices in their bedroom.

    This is a crucial age for young people to embrace new technologies and develop their ICT skills both at home and at school...and it's a crucial time for you to take control when they start exploring the digital world as well as the real world.

    Read more

  • 12-14 years old

    They're at secondary school and growing up fast. It's a time of change and their digital world might seem as important as the real world to them. They might spend their evenings on Bebo, Facebook or MySpace ; watching videos on YouTube and uploading their own for others to watch; or doing research for their homework.

    You want to encourage their technology and social skills, of course, so it's useful to understand what they're doing with technology and to get involved with it.

    Read more

  • 15+ years old

    Once your children are teenagers, it might be tempting to think that they're tech-savvy and dealing with everything the virtual world can throw at them. You probably watch in awe as they switch from chatting with friends on Facebook to updating their Twitter profile; playing against someone on the other side of the world on their games console to downloading music on their mobile.

    It's all great fun but, as they get older, the things you need to help them to cope with in their digital world are ever more challenging. Far from leaving them to it, you really need to keep communicating with them.

    Read more

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