They go by many names, including “pocket rockets,” “super-computers,” “brain boosters,” or plain old mobiles. Smartphones are amazing pieces of technology. For some parents, giving their child a smartphone is out of the question. But, hear out the arguments for it before you go against it. You might just change your mind. Here are the top benefits of smartphones for kids.
They will get smartphones one day
Children are going to get smartphones one day, whether you like it or not. Either by saving up their allowance, being gifted one by their grandparents on their birthday, or simply by working a job down the road and buying it themselves.
So, why not choose how and when you introduce it yourself? Parents need to make their children tech-savvy. It’s not a good idea to raise a child that is back a decade or two, with regard to modern technology. Smartphones are some of the most useful things for children as well as adults.
Finding their way home
Smartphones can be distractions for children. Yet, with the modern types of parental control apps at your disposal, that theory no longer holds water.
You can choose what kind of apps they can download when they can use the phone and limit the amount of on-screen time. With just a swipe of your phone, you can control their smartphone.
It’s very useful for when they need to get home by themselves after school. Maybe you need to stay and work late, or you’re stuck in traffic, or you could be needed urgently somewhere else. The bottom line is, you’re unable to pick them up from school.
Children can use the GPS mode and network data setting and find their own way home. They can type of saying where they want to go or tap on pre-saved addresses in the Google Maps app.
Select the shortest route home and they can use street view to then be guided visually. Using the parental control apps, you can also track where they are at any given moment, so long as they have the GPS setting on.
Helping with disabilities
Some children suffer from disabilities. A common disability is hearing loss.
Children that need to wear hearing aids to hear the teacher or interact with their friends often feel out of place. They look around and see they’re the only ones in the classroom that have to wear a piece of technology in their ears. They probably feel self-conscious about adjusting the sensitivity of their hearing aids in front of other people.
Your child could become the center of attention, in a great way, by wearing smartphone hearing aids. Hearing aid apps allow you to change the setting with just a couple of taps or swipes. Set the device to an adaptive mode and the sensitivity will automatically change for whatever noise level there is in the environment. Imagine being the only boy or girl in class, who is a bionic-human, integrated with technology? You’d be so cool!
Learn to cook
We all know how difficult it is to get children to put down the twinkie and eat a salad. That’s because we’re being too stereotypical. Fight smarter, not harder. The answer is in your’s and their pocket.
Smartphones are great tools to use for getting your kids to learn new recipes. Make a quick search online for any kind of simple kid’s recipe and you’ll find plenty that has images, text, and videos to follow along with. With a few basic safety drills and words of wisdom for being cautious in the kitchen, your kids can literally cook for themselves.
It’s not a good idea to just thrust them into the kitchen to get on with it, though. You still have to be an involved parent. Ask them to choose a recipe, now help them make it, using the advice and instructions on the smartphone screen.
Manage a schedule
Children live busy lives; almost as much as adults. They have sports practice, events, music lessons, homework, and projects to do.
A smartphone could be their very own personal organizer and schedule manager. There are various apps that your child could use to remind them when they’ve got dance practice, archery, or some kind of tutoring lesson during the week.
Rather than you having to remind them over and over, they can put it in their digital diary. Then the smartphone will sound an alarm or vibrate when one of their activities is near.
Sooner or later, kids will find out about smartphones and want nothing else. It’s better to introduce this technology to them yourself, so you can show them how useful it can be. Better to show them how to use it to their benefit than to find out they’re only using it to play video games.