Wen you suppose give your pikin im first cell fone and how you fit make sure say dem use am safely?

I devote my career to study young pipo and internet: wetin dem dey do online, wetin dem tink and how dia life take different from dia parents own.

I dey usually receive questions from parents about dia children and how dem dey use di Internet.

One of di most common na wen to give dem fone and how to make sure say dem use di technology safely.

You go find my ansa to some of di important questions on dis topic.

At which age I suppose buy my pikin im first cell phone?

I tink most times I dey disappoint parents by not giving dem di particular age as ansa.

But di key question na how much di pikin go use di fone – and wen e dey appropriate for dat particular pikin.

According to report wey British communications regulator, Ofcom, publish for 2023, 20% of three-year-old children get mobile fone.

But di dem only fit use am take foto, play simple games and make supervised video calls wit family.

Di more relevant question diafore na wen children suppose get dia own fone fully activated, dat is, di one wey dem fit use without anybody supervising dem wen dem contact oda pipo online.

By di time pikin reach school age, dem go don dey use to adult supervision for many aspects of dia life.

Im go dey for school, for house, wit friends and adults wey we trust or wit oda family members.

So e fit no too get need to contact distant adult, but e worth to tink about wetin be you own pikin specific needs.

Di transition from primary to secondary school na usually opportunity for children to move away from home small, participate for school activities or socialize wit friends, and dat time e go become more important for dem to fit contact dia parents.

I don tok to many young pipo wey tok about starting secondary school at di time wey dem get dia own fone.

How you fit make sure say your children dey use di device safely?

First of all, e dey important say, if your pikin dey online - at any age and no mata di kaiin device wey e dey use – make you tok to dem about online safety.

Parents get role to play in educating dia children and raising awareness about di risks of using internet, while teaching dem say most online experiences no dey dangerous.

I don do serious research wit young pipo about online dangers. As part of dis, me and my colleagues don develop resources for parents wit di help of more dan 1,000 young pipo.

Wetin young pipo dey tok most times be say dem wan know wia to turn wen dem need help.

Dem wan dey sure say dem receive support, not warning or ceasing dia fone.

Dis mean say di important first step na to reassure your pikin say dem fit tell you about any problem wey dem dey get and dem go get help without judgment.

E also dey important to tok to your pikin about wetin dem fit or no fit do wit di device.

Dis fit include, for example, setting ground rules about which apps to install and wen to stop using dem.

You need to also review di privacy settings of apps wey your pikin dey use, to make sure say dem no fit contact strangers or access contents wey no proper.

For UK, di National Society for di Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) provide resources for parents on using privacy settings.

Make I check my son fone?

Parents sometimes dey ask me weda make dem check dia pikin device - either by physically looking at di fone, or by using "safetytech", software wey dem fit install on anoda device wey fit allow you to access di communications wey dey occur for di pikin fone.

I tink e dey important to discuss wit your pikin.

Trust dey important for am to come to you if problem dey online, so if you want to monitor im fone, tok about am instead of rapping sense.

E dey be like e make sense for parents to get access to dis primary school age pikin fone, just as dem go tok wit oda pikin parents before agreeing make di pikin visit dia house.

However, as di pikin dey grow, he or she fit no want dia parents to see all dia online messages and interactions.

Di United Nations Convention on di Rights of di Child clearly say children get right to respect for dia private lives.

Make I track my pikin location on di device?

I don speak wit families wey track dia devices openly and transparently, and dem decision say dat na up to di family.

However, I don also speak to children wey fear say dia parents dey track one of dia teenage friend.

Di question here na weda dis dey make parents feel say dia children dey safe - or weda na just so dem go just know wetin dem dey do without dem knowing.

I bin get one particular conversation wey I no fit forget wit one pesin wey tell me about one of im friend wey bin dey extremely upset because her daughter change her mobile fone and she no fit find her again.

Wen I ask her her age, she tell me 22.

E also worth am to ask weda dis kain technologies dey offer lie lie guarantees: dey allow parents to know wia dia children dey, but not necessarily to know weda dem dey safe.

As wit monitoring small pikin fone, e also worth am to consider weda your monitoring approach dey create di correct conditions for di child to feel comfortable to tok to you about dia problem, or weda open conversations and environment of mutual trust fit be di beta way to move forward.

*Andy Phippen na Professor of Ethics of Technology and Digital Rights for Bournemouth University for Poole, England.

Dem first publish dis article for Di Conversation and reproduce am here under di Creative Commons license.