Most often, children receive their parents’ previously used phone as their first phone, but when purchasing a new device, it is necessary to choose the phone wisely and pay attention to various details, such as, durability (impact resistance), water resistance, phone battery, the size of the device and other functions.
Children like to be active and to have fun, often without thinking about the consequences of their actions, therefore additional care should be placed towards impact and water resistance of the phone. Most often in TSC service centre it is necessary to replace screens after a fall, to ensure high impact resistance, service specialists recommend purchasing a device with screen made from Corning Gorilla Glass material and purchasing good quality phone case and protective second glass.
It is just as important to check IP classification of the smartphone, which has been listed in its specifications. Letters IP are followed by two numbers, for example, IP67. The first digit indicates protection against solid objects and dust (the highest level is 6), and the second digit indicates water resistance (the highest level is 8). Of course, you don’t need to purchase a phone with the highest IP classification, but it should be at a good level, to avoid situations when a new device needs to be submitted for repair after the first week of use.
It is also important to pay attention to phone battery. Although the whole day should not be spent looking at a phone, it is better to purchase a device that will continue working even if it is used all the time. Accordingly, when looking at device’s specifications you should pay attention to the battery capacity – the higher the number, the longer the phone can be used without needing to be charged. This ensures the ability to contact your child throughout the whole day. However, if the child’s first device is the parent’s previously used device and it has low battery capacity, it is worth investing in battery replacement.
At times parents do not think that the size of the phone matter as well. The size of a child’s hand is smaller than those of an adult, due to which the size of a students’ phone should be medium or small – this way it will be easier to hold, it will be easier to handle, and it will decrease the risk that of the phone falling out of hands and breaking.
The cost of a device is another important aspect. Although children often desire the latest and most expensive versions of devices, parents should critically assess whether the child will need the best camera and the largest memory capacity. It should be taken into consideration that most often first devices are lost, forgotten or accidentally damaged, as a result, purchasing a cheaper phone could lessen the parents’ headache in case something happens to the phone. Of course, for parents and the young phone user to feel more at ease, it is possible to pay extra and purchase device insurance.
It is not possible to recommend one specific model that would be most suitable for a child, however, by following the previously mentioned criteria it should be possible to find a suitable first smartphone!
When a phone has been chosen, it is necessary to take care of it before it is handed to the child:
choose a durable, quality phone case;
to add second glass – it will save the screen from impact damage much better than protective film;
to purchase phone insurance, which will save a lot of worries and headaches, as it will cover repair costs. Choose one of the offers provided by our partners!
‘Having too much can make us worse off’ is an accurate description of phone usage habits, especially when it comes to children who have just received their first smartphone. In order to make sure that their offspring does not spend all their free time playing games on their phones, parents can enable parental control function on their devices. Most often parental control allows you to place restrictions for online content and games, it allows you to regulate what applications your child can download and control how much time your child can spend on their phone.
Admittedly, parental controls for Android devices are available to a wider extent than for iOS devices, however, despite the operating system, all parents will find a way to make sure that the child uses the phone efficiently. To place restrictions on child’s phone:
For Android users:
it is necessary to install application Family link – through which it is possible to place time and application downloading restrictions for your child’s device;
the abovementioned restrictions can be permitted or prohibited from the parents’ phone.
For iOS phone users:
take the child’s device;
in Settings access Screen Time;
choose – This is My Child’s [Device];
choose – Content & Privacy Restrictions;
restrictions for child’s phone in this way can be managed similarly as with Android phones – iOS phone allows to control downloads and purchases from App Store, as well as controls online content and access to built-in apps or features.
Although the main reason a student needs a phone is for communication, it is known that children what to additionally use various apps and play games. It is possible to limit playing games, however there are applications that are interesting and educational, benefiting the child and adding to their knowledge. We recommend:
Kļūsti gudrs – application develops child’s ability to calculate and solve text-based tasks, additionally it develops logical thinking skills;
Kur esam? Latvijā – develops Latvian language skills – requires word and sentence creation and assembly (more - Android; iOS)
Angļu valoda iesācējiem – allows primary school children to improve their English knowledge and develop language skills outside from school lessons (more – Android, iOS).
The mentioned are only few from all available educational apps, that can be useful for student’s development. In the digital age almost, everything is accessible by phone, it is only necessary to find the correct search key words.
If a student’s phone encounters any kind of problem – it does not work, the screen is broken or has similar issues, send your device to us and will try our best to return the device’s vivacity! Entrust your device to us!