Web site Cellphone Safety has provided a list of simple tips will help consumers empower their kids to enjoy their BlackBerry devices safely at all times.
1. Safe communications
Encourage kids to think carefully about what they say on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and who they share it with. Once a message is posted, others can save it, copy it, and send it to others. Young people should be made aware that information shared by BBM can be spread very quickly and that it is out of their control once posted. They should understand the potentially harmful consequences of posting something illegal, hurtful or embarrassing.
They should also change the setting to "store conversation history" to keep a record of BBM conversations should they need to show a trusted adult something that has made them uncomfortable or upset.
2. Sharing BBM PINs
Each smartphone has a unique eight-digit PIN for BBM. Other people need this number to contact a BlackBerry user via BBM. Teach children to only share this number with people he or she trusts and not to post it publicly on the Internet, such as on his or her Facebook profile. It is not sensible for children to share their phone numbers or addresses with strangers, and the same applies to BBM PIN numbers.
However, it is also worth remembering that no one can chat to children via BBM uninvited - making it one of the safest communications tools around for children.
By blocking suspicious or unwanted contacts, children can decide who may and may not communicate with them. They can block strangers and other unwanted contacts on BBM simply by opening the contacts list, scrolling to the contact, clicking menu and selecting 'Delete contact'. They can also select to 'Ignore future invitations' so blocked users cannot contact them again.
3. Protecting personal information
Kids may store information on their devices that they do not want others to find - for example, private photos - and they may have their devices set up to automatically log into e-mail or social networking accounts. Advise them to protect this information by setting up a password for their devices, so that someone who steals or finds the phone cannot access the data.
4. Empower your child to be in control
Many children worry that friends will be offended if they do not respond immediately to BBM messages. Help them to be in control of their conversations by teaching them that it is okay to ignore a message while they're doing their homework or eating dinner with the family.
Also, teach them that they do not need to accept BBM invites from people they do not know in real life. When responding to a BBM friend invite, they can choose 'accept', 'decline', or 'remove'. When 'remove' is selected, the other person will not be notified that the invite has been rejected.
5. Think about apps
Some apps on BlackBerry App World may contain content that you could be inappropriate. Try to remain aware of what younger children are downloading from BlackBerry App World.
For applications downloaded from BlackBerry App World 3.1, content ratings and filtering options for applications based on the CTIA Wireless Association's "Guidelines for App Content Classification and Ratings" are available. This feature enables parents to set a rating filter in BlackBerry App World to restrict content of specified ratings from being displayed or purchased.
6. Use the parental controls
BlackBerry 7.1, the latest version of the BlackBerry smartphone OS, includes parental controls for BlackBerry Internet service customers. It has been designed to help users have more control over how the features of the BlackBerry smartphone are used.
With parental controls, content can be blocked, features turned on or off and decisions can be made about what types of communication are available. It is an integrated feature that provides parents and guardians simple options to help them protect their children by restricting access to specific functions, features and applications.
A free download of BlackBerry is also available on BlackBerry App World for customers with a BlackBerry 6 or BlackBerry 7 OS smartphone. After installation of this app, parents and guardians will have the ability to restrict access to specific functions, features and applications on the smartphone.
For those using BlackBerry OS 5, a compatible version of parental controls will be available in the near future.
7. BlackBerry Protect
BlackBerry Protect will assist in locating your children's devices. If parents have not heard from their children, or cannot reach him or her, they can login to the BlackBerry protect Web site to look up their child's location. BlackBerry Protect comes pre-installed on latest the BlackBerry smartphones or can be downloaded for free from BlackBerry App World.
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