By Marc Allera, CEO, BT Group’s Consumer division.
It’s something that I, like every parent, have thought about. A smartphone can open up a new world of exciting possibilities, but it also exposes children to dangers many of us never had to face when growing up.
As a huge provider of phones and connected devices, and as the UK’s best mobile network 11 years in a row (as named by RootMetrics after independent testing of everyday mobile experience across the country), EE has an important role to play. That’s why I’m really proud of the work our team is doing to improve how we help parents and children with this big decision.
This week, as parents prepare for the start of the new school year, a time when they tend to come under increased pressure to buy their child a mobile device, we’re the first network provider to introduce clear age guidance for smartphones – for anyone on any network. As well as launching better products and controls for children to safely start using their first smartphone.
- Under 11s. For this group we’re recommending non-smart devices, such as ‘feature phones’ – that’s phones that can make texts and calls but can’t access social media or inappropriate content. We’ve exclusively launched the new Dash+ phone from Verve Connect, which is perfect for this.
- 11-13 years. If you’re giving your child a smartphone at this age, it should have parental controls enabled, restricted access to social media, and a family-sharing app in place.
- 13-16 years. Our guidance is that smartphones are appropriate, but parental controls should still be used to manage and restrict children’s access to inappropriate sites, content, and platforms. From 13 years old children are allowed access to social media, but any profiles should be linked to a parent or guardian account.
As well as this new guidance we’ve also enhanced our PhoneSmart platform – open to all, whether you are an EE customer or not – which teaches children and parents how to be kind and safe when using the internet. As well as critical advice for parents in setting up a new phone safely.
We offer easy-to-find parental controls for customers in our app – so they can easily manage and monitor their children’s device usage.
We have more child-friendly products – such as the Dash+ and the Xplora X6 Play smart watch, an ideal initiation to a first phone experience.
And we’re providing more resources for parents, teachers and children, with a new school programme (starting this week in Scotland) and a new family online safety hub launching later this year.
We launched the new guidance with an exclusive in The Sunday Telegraph, and it’s had a very positive response from media and the public so far. It’s also been great to have the support of our partners at Internet Matters, a leading child safety organisation, whose chief executive Carolyn Bunting said: “Our recent research showed that parents want to make their own decisions about their children’s use of technology, but that many would value guidance to help them in doing so.”
Carolyn is not the only one whose support I know we can count on. I’ve spoken to lots of colleagues about this issue, and I know many are really passionate about it. This year we’ll also be launching a new volunteering programme to help colleagues play a part in supporting and educating their local communities.
We can all play our part. If you know any parents or caregivers struggling with the decision over whether or not, or when, to get their child a smartphone, let them know EE can help.
Follow me on X and Instagram @marcallera
Source: EE Newsroom
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