During an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC News reports that Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, says she is “surprised” when primary school children have smartphones.  She added “The first thing you can do is not give a child a smartphone when they’re too young,”… Read More »Ofsted boss not comfortable with younger children having unlimited internet access

With the rise of foldable phones, we have seen a spike in popularity for old flip phones with UK children. According to a 2022 report from International Data Corporation, they witnessed worldwide shipments of foldable phones, inclusive of both flip and fold form factors, reach… Read More »SIM Cards for Old Phones

When providing a phone for a child, parents don’t necessarily require (or wish to allow) access to a mobile data allowance, so prefer a talk and text only plan. What is a talk and text plan? A talk and text plan is a SIM plan… Read More »Talk and text only plans

If you are calling a child’s phone and you hear a “The owner of this mobile phone does not permit calls from withheld numbers; please enable caller-ID and try again” message then it’s fairly certain that the number, and caller, you are calling is protected… Read More »No Anonymous Calls – Ever

News publications such as Manchester Evening News and Daily Record, have been warning parents about the Yubo app – branded ‘Tinder for teens’ So, what is the ‘tinder-for-teens’ Yubo app, and what are the reported warnings? What is Yubo? Yubo is a live streaming application… Read More »Warnings over ‘tinder-style’ app used by UK children

From time to time we are updated on handy tips and tricks by Children using the ParentShield service themselves. The most recent of which was an email from one of our parents including a really helpful suggestion from their Child asking us to share this… Read More »Adding ‘Call Parent’ Shortcuts to the Home Screen of an iPhone

Choosing between a Smartwatch and Smartphone is usually a crossroad that parents face in cases where there are concerns around providing a mobile phone.   We look at the most common parental concerns and the benefits of both options based on feedback from our conversations… Read More »Smartwatch vs Smartphone: Which is best for a child?

At ParentShield, we speak to 100’s of parents every week shopping for mobile phones for kids to go with the best sim for kids.  Some will go for brand new, some refurbished and some pre-owned.  Others will upgrade their own phone and hand over their… Read More »Mobile Phones for Kids: Parents Website Choice

Choosing a SIM plan for a child needs some careful consideration, as the SIM plan that you’re handing over will ultimately be linked to your credit or debit card.  This could lead to mammoth shock bills if not handled carefully. All networks offer a spending… Read More »Capped SIM Plans for Kids

Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, which means that their messages look ever more genuine.  This is worrying enough when the recipient is an Adult, but when it’s a child, infinitely more so.  As ParentShield is built around the needs of children, there are many protections… Read More »Protecting Children From Scam Text Messages