{"id":11482,"date":"2021-02-24T15:54:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T15:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/?p=11482"},"modified":"2022-03-17T01:39:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T01:39:13","slug":"how-to-choose-a-smartphone-for-your-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/blog\/how-to-choose-a-smartphone-for-your-teen\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a Smartphone for Your Teen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Overview:<\/strong>&nbsp;When buying your child&#8217;s first smartphone, safety, quality, and standards need to be considered. Parents should buy a phone with strong controls while considering their tween&#8217;s needs, lay down rules for use, and install parental control software for an added layer of safety.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Before You Buy a Smartphone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like any major purchase, you shouldn&#8217;t rush into this one. Before you even pick a model, do this first:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sit down and discuss what your tween will be using the phone for and why they want it. If it&#8217;s just to \u201ckeep up with the Joneses,\u201d there&#8217;s an important lesson to be had about image versus reality.<\/li><li>Ask them which specific features they most want in a phone, while making it clear what you&#8217;re willing to pay. Be flexible, especially if they&#8217;re contributing money they&#8217;ve earned or been gifted.<\/li><li>Draft up a specific set of rules that touch on what times they can use the phone, which apps are and aren&#8217;t allowed, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/how-to-talk-to-your-tweens-about-their-online-footprint\/\">what accountability there will be<\/a>&nbsp;if they break these rules.<\/li><li>Familiarize yourself with the operating system of the phone, how it works, and any parental controls that are built in.<\/li><li>Research models available on your carrier, looking particularly at the build quality. Look for independent critics, not just reviews on the carrier&#8217;s site.<\/li><li>Decide on a plan. Prepaid can put a hard limit on their chatting and data, but you may need to put them on your family plan. Similarly, price out insurance plans for the device.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>At the Store<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/smartphone-security2.jpg\" alt=\"Taking a photo with a smartphone.\" class=\"wp-image-11483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/smartphone-security2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/smartphone-security2-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/smartphone-security2-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;re at the store, it&#8217;s a good opportunity to teach kids how to comparison shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Have them look at the phones, handle them if possible, and see how they feel. What looks good on paper may be less impressive in real life.<\/li><li>Look at available accessories for the phone. At the bare minimum, you&#8217;ll need a protective case that absorbs shocks and a screen protector to help prevent scratches and damage. A wrist strap or grip on the back of the case that doubles as a kickstand may also be useful.<\/li><li>Have your tween try out the operating system. Does it work for their needs? Can it run the apps they want?<\/li><li>Have them pay attention to the transaction and what&#8217;s involved. If, for example, there&#8217;s a payment plan that will be deducted from their allowance, you should have them do the math and understand exactly how much money they&#8217;ll be out if they lose or damage their phone.<\/li><li>Check to ensure that everything you need to charge and run the phone is included in the box.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>After You Buy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve chosen a phone, you&#8217;ll need to configure it to your wishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Help your kids connect any necessary accounts, like email, to their device. Log them into any services you agreed to have on the phone.<\/li><li>Block unsafe apps, either by setting an age restriction or by blocking them specifically in the phone&#8217;s software. Install any needed apps, as well, so they&#8217;re not asking you for the PIN constantly.<\/li><li>Update the parental controls,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/how-to-balance-screen-time-with-other-activities-during-covid-19\/\">according to the agreement you drew up<\/a>. Implement operating-system-level protections.\u00a0<\/li><li>Install parental control software like Screen Time, which can help parents enforce schedules and rules.\u00a0<\/li><li>To learn more about how Screen Time can give you peace of mind and help to keep your tween safe online,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/remote.screentimelabs.com\/#\/signup?__mscta=1642_86722_35\">try it for free<\/a>!<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview:&nbsp;When buying your child&#8217;s first smartphone, safety, quality, and standards need to be considered. Parents should buy a phone with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":11484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting-hacks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Choose a Smartphone for Your Teen - Screen Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When buying your child&#039;s first smartphone, safety, quality, and standards need to be considered.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/screentimelabs.com\/blog\/how-to-choose-a-smartphone-for-your-teen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Choose a Smartphone for Your Teen - 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