Keeping kids safe on the go

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 2, 2011 -- No one needs to be told how much we love our mobile phones. You only need to walk down the street to see everyone, from all walks of life, talking, texting, tweeting, facebooking and listening to music on their mobile phones. Apparently there are more active SIMs in South Africa than there are people!

For kids growing up today, this mobile digital world is not the new normal. It is the only normal. Which gives the youth massive opportunities and advantages over previous generations. From keeping in touch, to making calls in an emergency, to meeting likeminded individuals, to supporting causes, to researching homework…. the list is long. But on the other hand, unfettered access to digital communications opens them up to a range of dangers as well.

Add into the mix that parents today didn’t grow up with mobile phones and other technology in the same way that their children are doing and you’ve got a pretty wide digital generation gap. The kids know all about living with technology, but parents still need to guide, protect and nurture their children, even if they find the technology overwhelming.

In fact, a study from Unisa’s Youth Research Unit that was released in May 2011 reported that 21% of the high school learners surveyed said that people had started unwanted conversations about sex with them online. 14% were worried about online harassment, and nearly 6% said they had been encouraged to run away from home. The study doesn’t say whether the children were accessing the internet via a computer or a mobile phone, not that it matters anymore – phones and computers access the exact same online information and communication channels.

Fortunately, a good solution to allowing parents to keep their children safe on their mobile phones has emerged, in the shape of Mobiflock, a child safety service for smartphones, which recently launched its beta service.

Mobiflock has been specifically designed for the mobile environment and its particular challenges. The service gives parents visibility over how their children are using their phones, who is contacting them and the content they are being exposed to, and which applications they are installing. Parents can then use Mobiflock to set personalised and appropriate limits in place for each of their children in order to protect them from harm. Alerts via email or text message warn parents about particularly dangerous activity.

Technology is seldom a silver bullet, and Mobiflock places great emphasis on educating parents about digital communications and their digital native children, to allow them to appropriately and confidently guide their children through the digital social landscape.

The beta version of the service is available for free download on the Ovi Store http://store.ovi.com/content/102108.

child safety     cyber-bullying     Online safety     online safety for children     sexting     smartphones