Are Smartwatches Too Risky for Children?

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Things to Consider

As you probably already know, having a smart watch offers a lot of neat perks. The time is easily accessible, as well as your text messages, calls, and your ability to monitor metrics pertaining to your health and fitness. Also, talking watches can be beneficial to those who are blind or visually impaired. 
 

Are Smartwatches Allowed in School?

Arguments have taken place regarding whether children should have smartwatches at all. In fact, Germany made it illegal to sell smartwatches to and for children in 2017. They did this due to it being possible to illegally track and spy on children through this technology. Furthermore, there is possible cancer-causing radiation.  

Beyond these obvious concerns, schools have a wide array of reasons to question whether smart watches should be allowed in schools at all. 
 

Are Smartwatches Dangerous?

Many watches geared towards children come with built-in cameras and microphones so parents can monitor their child's whereabouts. Unfortunately, this information can become accessible to people other than the child's parents. Hackers can mess with the location service, tracking their location or even manipulating it to send false location signals. This is due to the lack of proper and secure encryption. You can read our article about Online Predators to learn more about keeping your child safe on the Internet. 
 

Can Smartwatches Be Hacked?

Research shows that smartwatches are easily hackable. This can grant access to a child's conversations, surroundings, etc. by unauthorized people. Hackers can make phone calls from the victim's phone number, as well as gain access to phone numbers and addresses that are stored on the smartwatch. Smartwatches aside, we've written an article recently about how schools themselves, often monitor students’ Internet usage and how this can be problematic.
 

Are Smartwatches Distracting?

Children already have plenty of distractions at school, ranging from having their friends close by to having their cell phones easily accessible. Now, smartwatches have become another thing for parents and teachers to worry about. Frequent notifications and games might keep a child's attention more than the school curriculum does. For this reason, some public schools in Australia have already banned the use of smartwatches during school hours. 
 

Do Smartwatches Encourage Cheating on Tests?

Cheating on exams has always been an issue, as students would come up with all sorts of ways to do better on their tests. They might sneak a peek at their friend's exams, write answers on their hand, or memorize stolen answer keys. Unfortunately, technology has both simplified and advanced the ability to cheat. 

Smartwatches enable students to view photos of notes, search on the Internet, and playback both audio and video recordings. This has led many schools to ban smartwatches during testing time, and sometimes even together.  

We hope this article helped you better understand the risks involved with children using smartwatches! We want to help you keep your child safe as much as possible. Be sure to check out the articles linked above to learn more about child safety.

 

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