So I was able to attend the AT&T Mobile Safety Webinar  last week I was really surprised by the information AT&T shared with us.   Cell phones are a fact of life.  This past week during the hurricane they have been a life line to people with love ones and connecting with others.   For out children they are also a fact of life. I observed this week how much preteens are tied to there phones.  Which comes to  my concerns with preteen/ teen cell phone use bullying, privacy, texting while driving and others.

AT&T is making the effort to learn about what “wireless safety” means, and share that information with families.

The Mobile Safety program has been established to educate parents on what safety means when it comes to mobile devices, and to provide resources that help parents navigate this day-to-day in their homes.

AT&T conducted a study of 1,000 parents and 500 kids – ages 8-17 – on a variety of topics that relate to mobile phones, devices and other issues.

My son does not have a phone yet.. good to know I am on track the average according to the study the the average age is 12.1 which is where I am finding we are at,  because my son is spending more time away from us.   So the question is smart phone or no smart phone.. they study showed that only 345 of kids have smart phones.  Which took the pressure off me to get a smart phone,  so when they say every kid has a smart phone you can say that is not true.

So what about the “Issues” ?   according to the survey

 What parents are concerned about in their kids’ use of mobile phones:

• 89% are worried about texting and driving
• 67% are concerned about bullying text messages
• 69% are concerned about sexually suggestive messages
• 77% are worried about their kids receiving calls from unknown numbers.

What we found interesting is how those worries related to what was actually happening, according to kids:

• Over HALF have been in a car with someone who was texting and driving
• Over 1 in 5 have received a mean text message
• Almost half have a friend who received a sexual picture or message
• 69% have received a call from an unknown number.

So our concerns are real.

• 53% of kids have been in a motor vehicle with someone who was texting and driving
• Over 1 in 5 have received a mean or bullying text message from another kid on their mobile phone
• Almost half (46%) have a friend who has received a message or picture that their parents would not have liked because it was too sexual
• 69% have answered a call from an unknown number

AT&T also asked kids about the rules they have on their mobile phones. 66% said they do have rules on their phone usage. BUT, 90% said they would be OK with their parents setting rules. What we see there is an opportunity. Some parents might not be setting rules because they don’t think their kids will follow them, and that may not be the case.

Another interesting data point: 93% of kids have rules on their phones at school. So even if they don’t have rules at home – they are used to having them at school, and it could be a smooth transition to implement some of those rules at home.

AT&T also found that 76% of parents say they monitor their kids’ phones. However, only 42% of kids say their parents monitor their phone. A few things could be happening here. Parents may be saying they monitor their kids’ phones, but actually give them more freedom. OR, parents are monitoring their kids’ phones without telling them that they are doing so.

2 of 5 kids say their parents have not talked to them about mobile safety, and they are more likely to have heard from their parents about stranger danger, alcohol and drugs and sex education that these issues. While these are the standard safety issues that kids learn about from their parents and at school, these other issues are a reality for kids in today’s world.

AT&T has put together a variety of resources to help parents. From learning what other families are doing through videos, or downloadable tip sheets, the website at http://www.att.com/familysafety has a wealth of information available to anyone who is interested.

Q&A with Lesley Backus and Whaewon Choi of Fleishman-Hillard, who worked with AT&T to develop the Mobile Safety School program:

 AT&T has a product called Smart Limits for wireless. It’s $4.99 per month, and you can set a monthly limit for the number of text messages you want your child to be able to send.  So if you child is an over texter  this function helps to limit so you do not have huge cell bills

More common phone rule are as follows and I plan on following them with my son.

• No texting or talking while driving (often it was a family rule, with parents staying off the phone in the car, as well, to set a good example for younger kids).
• No phones at the dinner table,
• No phones in the bedroom at night.
•  There are resources on att.com/familysafety for rules on phones at school, responsible citizenship, new rules to think about as kids graduate to smartphones, etc.
• Cell phones at school,  they have to follow the schools rules
• Tip:Some parents will have their kids charge their cell phones in the parents’ bedroom, since often parents think kids are in bed, but they’re texting with friends.

Kids are learning a lot of their behaviors from adults. As parents  need to model good phone behavior for the kids in our lives.

I loved learning about At&T Family Map is an app you can download for your family on your individual phones. You sign up yourself and your family members, and it allows you to log in and see where a particular phone is. If your child is always with their phone and you want to make sure they arrive at a particular destination safely, you can log in and see that phone on a map. You can also set alerts to make sure you check in at specific times.

It allows you to check on your kids without bothering them – avoiding the issue of texting while driving, etc

I really learned a lot from AT&T mobile safety school. I was great to know that other parents are faced with similar issues.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by AT&T