00:00 Parents think the decision of whether or not to give their child a phone ranks equally
00:08 as hard as choosing what school they should go to. So it's a big decision and one that
00:13 parents spend a lot of time worrying about before they finally decide to go for it. And
00:19 that go for it moment actually tends to be the start of secondary school. So that's the
00:25 time when 74% of parents told us that they were worried about their child traveling to
00:33 and from school and knowing where they are because I guess it's the first time they're
00:38 really out in the world on their own. Phones these days, we are talking about smartphones.
00:42 So we're talking about phones that have access to huge areas of the internet, social media,
00:49 gaming, being able to download, stream, being able to purchase things online. There's many
00:54 things that it sort of opens up to children. And I think it's that sort of breadth of things
00:59 that it opens up that can give parents a lot of fear and a lot of worry and what risks might
01:05 they come across. So the contact that they might receive is they're going to be unwanted contact,
01:10 grooming, bullying that they may experience online, but also kind of exposure to harmful
01:16 content to age inappropriate content that exists out there on the internet.
01:22 The autumn term for around 10 million students across the UK is now upon us.
01:26 Many of those students will be making the huge step from primary school to secondary,
01:31 a time where many parents feel their children are ready for their first mobile phones. In fact,
01:36 three quarters of parents feel it's important for a child to have a phone when they start
01:40 secondary school, but over half worry about them having one.
01:43 Getting it right from the start is really important. So the parental controls that are
01:49 available obviously give you a variety of options. So you could put spending restrictions on your
01:57 child's phone. You can set timers of when it can go off at night. There are lots of different
02:05 options available. And I think the important thing is to discuss that with your child and
02:11 make sure that they feel that you're on the journey together.
02:15 If trouble does arise, what is the best port of call? What should parents and kids be doing?
02:20 Where can they go for more information?
02:22 Yeah, so one of the most important things you can do is make sure that your child knows that
02:27 their safety is of the utmost importance. And it sounds like a really obvious thing to say.
02:30 But we hear through Childline that children can really worry when there's kind of family
02:35 rules in place about when they use technology and if they experience harm when they've done
02:40 something, perhaps gone on a device when they weren't supposed to. So make sure that they know
02:44 that first and foremost. In terms of where you go to get support, there is so much help out there
02:50 for you. At the NSPCC, we operate our NSPCC Helpline for adults who are worried about
02:56 a child's safety, whether online or offline. You can contact us any time,
03:00 day or night, with concerns that you might have and get help.
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