a while back, my cousin told us how his kids, who are about eight, would sometimes call him up from school. you know, to tell them that they weren’t feeling well, or to make last-minute after-school arrangements, or well, just to ‘report’ about something they deem as important.
to do so, the little fellas (who are twins, by the way) would need to fish out loose change from their pockets to use the school’s public phone. their daddy thought of getting them a handphone but, as i’m sure most parents do, felt that they were too young for such a responsibility.
yet i did wonder too – what if parents need to get in touch with their kids in school, other than having to inconvenience their teacher via the staff room phone?
and then i discovered online of this new mobile service by M1 called KidSAFE, i immediately thought of them!
a quick glance at the features and i knew it was perfect for parents – AND kids. well, at least kids who are just old enough to know how to function a handphone, lah. not, of course, for aniq (who’s all of 3 and more interested in playing with the torchlight function on my handphone) or auni (who’s all of 10 months and more interested in slobbering all over my handphone).
anyway, as i was saying, KidSAFE has all these child-friendly features that i think will most likely appeal to you young-ish parents of even young-ish kids.
first of all, the service uses a stripped-down-to-basics kinda mobile (a Samsung SGH E200, to be precise), so it’s easy to use (read: idiot proof! yes, that includes some of us who may be, ahem, gizmo-phobic), especially since it’s meant for kids who’ve never owned a handphone before.
and – here’s the important part – it’s actually SAFE to use.
let’s see, now…
- hey, that’s a whole lotta numbers! but i would think the most essential ones would be, of course, the parents’ numbers, as well as their grandparents, close relatives, or even their neighbours and trusted friends. with these digits pre-programmed in the phone, there’s no worry about getting the numbers right, especially in times of emergency. i mean, there’s plenty enough to remember with all those spelling tests and math homework, isn’t there?
- so no tampering can be done on the phone – you know how sticky those young fingers can get!
- and that secret PIN number, which only you have access to, will be required to amend the phonebook entries and any KidSAFE functions on the child’s phone. how’s that for All Mighty Powers?
- which, i think this is pretty important, as this minimises any chances of exposing your kids to violent and unsavoury content. let’s hope they don’t grow up too fast, shall we? :S
- so they are less likely to unintentionally access chargeable mobile services and chalk up hefty phone bills! yeah, they can forget about voting for their favourite Singapore Idol on those 1900 numbers. :)
- including details of numbers attempting to SMS or call the KidSAFE number, and attempts made to call or SMS unauthorised numbers. which means, your child is safe from being contacted by strangers, and at the same time, you can be assured that they’ll be unable to dial out strange numbers too. hey, you’ll never know.
phew! *pant pant*
so, i guess it is possible after all for parents to have the confidence and peace of mind should they decide to give their kids their own mobile phone, eh?
and you know, i think it could actually be a good tool for parents to teach responsibility. for faris here, he was afraid that the phone would get stolen when he brings it to school, so his dad reminded him not to show it off to his friends and to make sure that he brought it along with him when he’s out of the classroom. but kids being, well, kids, he did accidentally show it to his friend, then felt bad about it when his dad advised him that it might tempt people to steal it, so he’s been more careful with it since…
faris and his brother, faiz, can now make calls to their parents and grandparents with ease. no more digging around for coins in their pockets to make calls on a public phone! can use the money to buy extra snacks liao! :D
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Just make sure they are not caught by any of the teachers coz’ it’s against the school rules for kids to be bringing handphones to school in case of thefts. (The teachers will only return to the parents later.) So, if they do bring it, please make sure it is tucked safely inside their bags. Oh, and they are not allowed to use the handphones in the school premises either.
yup, i think they know! thank you teacher. :))
wah… my nephews so canggih now…
more and more parents are giving the kids mobile phones. takut hilang jer…
WoW!!! Bagus nie, useful information hehehehe. Hubs kept pestering me to let my son (P1!) bring a hp to school jadi senang nak call don’t have to hassle thru e long queue (Grrrrrr!!!!). So @ least with this types of mobile service cld put my mind @ ease sikit (sikit jerrrr :P). But still he’s still tooo kecik to bring a hp to school! LoL!!! Thnkx HaNa for the useful info ;).
welkum, welkum
funny thing, I shared with my p6 students just now regarding this and they don’t like the phone….said it’s invading their privacy…lol
Hi Hana,
Im just a passerby….do you mind be asking is that your newphew? Is he from Tampines North Primary? And yes me too just started giving my boy mobile phone cause hes alone back from school and so as I can reach him easily.Its quite hard to decide to get him one…trying him without mobile and its really tough to know his whereabout.
hi yati, yup i think thats tampines north. how old is your son? if you’re using a normal subscription, you might want to consider this! :)
nahuya, i guess older kids may not want to be ‘checked upon’ by their parents all the time coz it’s not cool, eh? heh.
oshkosh, pri 1 is perhaps still a little young, unless you can really trust him not to show his friends or lose it lah. my nephews have each other to remind and jaga. bagos jugak ada twins eh. :)
nur, u tried calling them? i smsed them before. pandai seh reply! oops tak boleh cakap ‘seh’, se-tan. lol.
i don’t even have their number! haha! didn’t know they have mobile phones!
and this message is brought to you by M1.
Heehee. Macam buat advertisement M1 eh. Good info. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Hana,
Thks and appreciate your reply….my son is 8yrs old in P3…emmm currently its under his dad corporate ac as u knw they give discount n free here and there as I or we didnt knw about the above thing u mention…actually kan panjang sangat ‘cerita’ tu i read half way ja hehehe will share this infor with husband and let him decide hehehe
Yup2 i agree wif u 100% lol!…ape nak buat anak bapak mcm2 ah!!! hehehehehehehhe, jadi nie skrng *dad* using this method to *son* ; okay if u give me good results i’ll give u a reward (ape lagi Hp lah!!!!) ehehehehehehe. Takpe2 i’ll be the psycho-ing *mum* and say NO not good don buy Hp buy PSP lah hahahahahahaaha ;P.
Hello Hana..Thanx for sharing abt this plan eh…I called M1 to enquire abt this but the operator mcm tak tau sgt pasal plan ni.So dah bincang2 dgn hubby(mcm nak kerja kawin je tu) besok nak go M1 tanya n maybe subscribe for my gal..She’s been complaining abt the public fone at her skool..So thanx again Hana..Ada apa2 inform lagi k..
no problem, glad to share. :)