Every parent of young children these days is familiar with the quandary of their child wanting to play with their cell phone. Deciding whether or not to let your child play with your phone is always difficult. On the one hand, it could help entertain your child at those brief moments when you simply need to concentrate; on the other, you don’t want your child to become addicted to technology, or to damage your phone. For those situations when you do decide to let your child use your phone, here are some things you can do beforehand to ensure that your phone remains child-friendly and durable enough to withstand a child’s rough hands.
Invest in a protective case.
Young children are especially notorious for handling phones roughly. Protect your phone from damage with a heavy duty case made to withstand falls and throws. Waterproof is even better.
Don’t forget a screen cover.
A screen cover is also essential to protecting your phone from children’s hands—especially hands that might have food residue, dirt, and other questionable substances on them. Screen covers are inexpensive, easy to install, and come in both matte and glossy finishes to give your phone the look you want. They also happen to make your phone easy to clean.
Clean it regularly.
Children happen to be extremely good germ carriers. Be sure to clean your phone regularly in order to keep your health going strong. You can do this with a small microfiber cloth and a very small amount of sterilizing alcohol, spraying on the cloth first as you clean. Take care, however, when disinfecting your phone’s screen; Apple actually recommends not using any chemical substances on the screen. This is another great reason to get a screen cover for your phone; you can disinfect your phone’s screen effectively without worry about harming the screen itself.
Install child-friendly apps.
While you’re at it, it’s a great idea to install a few child-friendly apps on your phone so that your child will use those rather than your social media, budgeting, and work-related apps. You might opt for a children’s movie or TV app that streams entertainment via Wi-fi, a simple drawing app, an education-oriented game, or a reading app. It’s a good idea to include some app options that don’t require Wi-fi so that your child can still enjoy certain apps even when you’ve disabled the Wi-fi. You might additionally get an “app lock” app that keeps your toddler locked into one or only a select few apps while using your phone.
Set browser limits.
Apps are available to let you limit your child’s browser usage. Blacklist certain sites that you don’t want your children visiting, or whitelist the websites that are allowed.
Use user profiles or guided access.
If you have an Android phone, lucky you—you can create a unique user profile just for your child to use while on your phone. For iOS users, things get a little more complicated, as user profiles are not yet an option. Instead, you can try using guided access, which lets you temporarily child-proof a particular app.
Block certain settings.
It’s also a good idea to block certain settings such as Accounts, Contacts, and Calendar changes in your phone. How you do this will depend on whether you have an Android or iOS device.
