Keeping your Kids Mobile Safe at School

Children with mobile phones image from Shutterstock

It was only a couple of years ago I found myself saying to my husband, but surely JJ doesn't need a mobile now he is at Secondary school? We never had one, so why should he? But then my husband patiently reminded me that thirty years ago when we were at school there was a coin operated phone box on practically every street corner and we both lived within walking distance of our schools. Now our son travels for nearly an hour on the bus and in all that time doesn't pass even one phone box!

Oh yes things really have changed and I am convinced that for the most part the changes really are a good thing but of course there are challenges too and we'll explore some of those now.

It's against School Policy
This is a tough one as generally I always want to encourage our children to adhere to the school rules but actually I think school are being a bit short-sighted on this one. Without a mobile, how is my son to tell me if he misses the bus or if it breaks down, when there are no longer any call boxes and no public transport to where we live?

Practicality dictates for us that JJ (age 14) takes his phone to school with him and during the school day it stays on mute at the bottom of his bag. From what he tells me it is exactly what nearly every other child in the school does too, so it seems comical that the school keep reinforcing in their newsletter that phones must not be bought into school and if a child does they are breaking the school rules and any loss or damage will not be dealt with by the school. I suppose that is one way of them ensuring they don't have lots of parents banging on their door moaning about theft or breakage.

Parenting a Digital Native - How Hard Can it Be?

Hmm yum. A latte, a brownie and just starting a new book. 'Left to their own devices - confident parenting in a world of screens' written by Katharine Hill, Director of Care for the Family

A post shared by Michelle Pannell (@michelletwinmum) on Jun 26, 2017 at 3:11am PDT

I know it's often said that parents nowadays are living in an totally different world to their own parents or grandparents but I really feel it is true. As a child of the 70’s and 80’s there wasn't any such thing as the internet or email, I played with my dolls, drew and coloured and made believe in the street with my neighbours. Now my children meet their friends in virtual chat rooms on discord and challenge each other to jump subway trains (on a screen of course).

It really is interesting parenting in this evolving time and I am thankful that I work as a blogger and as such am very savvy when it comes to tech generally and more specifically social media, but you can't become complacent as that is when something falls under the radar.

I started my first blog back in 2008 and as such opened social media accounts right at the start of their growth. This means that when my eldest child wanted to get online and join various platforms that I was knowledgeable and able to work with him to ensure that the right safe guards were in place.

Don't think it has all been plain sailing though, there have been times when we’ve had to have some serious chats with my son about sites he has visited or things he has said but we've only been able to do that as he has known from the start we would have his passwords and access to any gadgets he has. Then impromptu visits and a glance through his history and such have meant we feel sure he is playing safe.

What is your child sharing online?

My JJ is a massive fan of his computer, and his iPad come to think of it and pretty soon he'll be at secondary school and expecting a phone I have no doubt. It's a bit daunting for me as a parent to know how to protect JJ when he is online, there is so much scope for him to be seeing things and going places that I don't want him to.

When he is on Minecraft and chatting to the other players, who are they? A 12 year old in America he tells me. But are they really? 'I'd never give my personal information away online Mum, that is just silly' but then you chat with him further and we talk about when he has Facebook and he tells me 'it is OK to post stuff in FB as you just choose share with friends only and then it is OK'' but he forgets that once you post something for your friends and they start to comment on it, your post is then visible to their friends and so on. There seems to be all these things out there to trip you up and make it hard to stay safe online.

We do talk a lot, so JJ is aware of the dangers that can lurk online and he knows it is OK to approach his Dad and I about whatever he needs to chat about. It does not matter if he has messed up, we just want him to talk to us and this is a good starting point but there is still so much more we need to chat to him about and I'm making it one of my missions this year to become more aware myself and to educate my 11 year old JJ and also his 7 year old sisters.

The NSPCC are really concerned about what kids are sharing on the Internet and in January they launched their #ShareAware campaign with this hard-hitting video. At first you think it is all a bit of harmless fun and as the video progresses it makes you aware of what can happen and how quickly something silly and spontaneous becomes long-lived and detrimental to every day life. I'm going to make sure my kids watch this video tomorrow and then we will chat about it as too many young lives are lost because of online bullying, precious young lives like that of Izzy Dix.

I'd urge you to watch the video and then watch it with your children a couple of times (the first is bound to lose its message due to giggles) and then have a good conversation with your kids. This video is aimed at 8 - 12 year old's but I'll be letting my 7 year olds see it. The NSPCC have some pointers for starting a conversation with your kids if you feel a bit stuck.



The NSPCC have a #ShareAware hub with all the information you need as a parent. No jargon, just really simple information for you to be empowered and knowledgeable in this area.

I started this post thinking I have a pretty good knowledge of social media as I use most of the big platforms, but actually after visiting the NSPCC's Net Aware site there are so many I have never even heard of and some sound just plain scary. Sickipedia for jokes, Snog, a teen dating site where people can rate you as snog, marry or avoid (why, why, would you submit yourself to that?) and Secret a place to share content anonymously (meaning no recriminations!)

So don't be embarrassed if your knowledge is limited and certainly do not think it is too late to talk to your children. It is never too late and always useful to have open and honest conversations with your kids, they could be the difference between them being safe and enjoying their childhood and something we don't even want to think about but have to face is reality in this day and age.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!