Oftentimes, the conversation around technology is about how to protect children from it or how to keep them safe when they are using it. That is an important conversation that adults must continue to have, but another important aspect to consider about technology is how it can be used to keep children safe. There are a lot of innovations that exist that provide more protection for children and help the adults who love them keep them safe.
Safety in the Ordinary
Innovative thinking takes technology and connects it to something rather ordinary, such as transportation, to create something completely new. This is how inventive thinkers have created tools and programs that keep children safe. Transportation, for example, can be a challenge for parents. Parents are not always available when children need a ride, and public transportation can be a risky situation for children. The mobility service industry does not even allow anyone to use their services until they are eighteen. This creates quite a predicament for parents. A company like Zum is an example of how technology platforms can be paired with an ordinary need, such as transportation, to provide children with reliable transportation that offers security, tracking and communication for parents.
Safety in the Home
Interestingly, one of the paradoxes of technology is that it often becomes a solution to a problem that was created by other technology. For instance, innovative technology may be used to help keep children who use computers and smart devices safe. When it comes to accessing technology in the home, parents have the ability to utilize software service providers that can give them parental controls. These options can allow for monitoring, restricting, and limiting internet usage. These types of whole-system safeguards give parents better supervision that can help them protect their children. They also help parents protect children as they discuss healthy internet use and behavior related to the controls that are implemented.
Safety in Devices
Many parents may not be aware, but there are frequently many built-in features on devices or software programs that children use that are designed to help keep children safe. There are features that turn off access to the browser, block certain words or videos with certain ratings and set time restrictions. Other devices will let parents require users to complete certain educational activities in order to unlock access to the games and videos.
Many things people use have both helpful and harmful sides to them. Technology’s ability to harm children may be uppermost in a parent’s thoughts because of the fear it causes, and rightfully so. Parents want to take care of their children and keep them safe from all danger whether it comes from the physical world or the digital world. However, fear can sometimes make it difficult to see things clearly. Some technological innovations have been created specifically to meet the needs of children and to keep them safe. Parents will find that there are many ways that technology can help give them peace of mind.
