Media Release - With another school year underway, Vodafone is offering advice to parents under pressure from their children asking for their first phone.

Vodafone Head of Segment Marketing Delina Shields says giving your children their first phone is an exciting time, yet it can be nerve wracking for parents worried about price, data limits and safety.

“Giving your child their first phone is something of a ritual these days. The average age for children getting a smartphone overseas is 10.3 years old*. We believe it’s probably a little bit older than that in New Zealand. But it’s something that parents will be thinking about, especially as children hit intermediate age.”

Delina says it is important parents feel in control of their children’s smartphone use, particularly when it comes to safety online and setting reasonable limits around how much time young people should be spending on their phone.

“As a Mum I know it’s not an easy job to navigate the ever-increasing digital world. But parents can set digital boundaries and help their children stay safe online. A First Phone celebrates your child’s growing independence, but is also a great way for you to stay in touch with them wherever they may be.”

Vodafone offers controls such as Blacklist, a free mobile service available to all Vodafone customers, to help keep young people safe by making it easy to block unwanted TXT and PXT messages. Vodafone has also collaborated with The Parenting place to create Digi Parenting (vodafone.co.nz/digiparenting), an information site parents and young people can go to learn about using technology in a safe and positive way.

“Parents can and should set some limits around smart phone use. For example, you can make rules such as no phones at meal times, or in the bedrooms at night, with all the phones going into one place to charge at lights out,” Delina said.

“With Vodafone Red Share you can be in control of how much data your children use and can allocate the amount of data your kids use each month with data controls through My Vodafone. Data can be used as a reward for doing chores, which can be easily added via Red Share. Red Share also ensures your kids always have credit if they need to call you in an emergency.”

Vodafone is offering My First Phone deals together with Red Plus plans, providing premium smartphones at great prices to help make it easy for parents to choose.