Safe Ways for Teens to Use Camera Phones

The Internet and mobile applications, revolutionizing the way people connect. Camera phones allow users to take photos, capture videos and immediately send them to any number of recipients across the web. According to the Pew Research Center, as of September 2012, 78 percent of teens in America had mobiles, half of which were smartphones, and 25 percent of teens mostly use their phones to access the Internet. Although the phones offer convenience, they also expose teenagers to many dangers, requiring parents to educate them on safe camera phone usage.

  1. Privacy

    • Teenagers can use their camera phones in a manner that maintains their privacy and that of other people. Enabling privacy settings on phones and personal profiles will keep teens from sharing their photos and videos with the entire web. Teenagers need to be aware that Internet users have different motivations for going online and they should be careful to avoid exposing themselves to people with ill intentions, such as pedophiles. The Federal Trade Commission's OnGuardOnline website advises parents to communicate to children the importance of maintaining other people̵7;s privacy when using their camera phones.

    Limited Internet

    • According to a 2010 article in the New York Times, you can restrict your teenager̵7;s access to the Internet as a means of proactively ensuring her safety when using the camera phone, by taking up a mobile phone service that offers restricted access to content, data and time-of-day usage. This keeps your teenagers from using their cameras excessively, since they can only upload and download a limited amount of data daily. It also ensures that during certain times of the day, especially at night, your teenager cannot use her phone to send or receive obscene, explicit or inappropriate photos and other unfiltered content.

    Location Services

    • Teenagers should be aware that camera phones come equipped with geo-tagging capabilities that make it possible for anyone on the Internet to determine their location. They need to keep the application turned off. You can explain to your teenagers that when they post photos or videos they have taken online, other people can use the connection to pinpoint their location, which puts their safety at risk.

    Avoid Distractions

    • Camera phones can become time-consuming and distracting, so you need to lay down specific rules for your teenager's phone use. Warn them not to use their camera phones while driving or in establishments that ban them, such as showrooms, hospitals and standardized testing locations, such as SAT test facilities, as they could get in trouble for doing so. Cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens, so your teenager should avoid being drawn into bullying and other exchanges of photos and videos meant to ridicule other people.

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