Get advice on smart speaker safety to help children who use the technology experience more of the benefits.
Learn about the opportunities available for smart speakers and the children who use this technology.
Smart speakers can help children develop positive screen time habits. Use smart speakers to set timers and reminders.
63% of parents believe time online negatively impacts their children’s health. So, why not use smart speakers to counter that? Use smart speaker features to play games, listen to music and get moving as a family.
Some smart speakers have educational features that can help your child to develop their critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills.
Additionally, depending on the smart speaker, these features can help kids with reading, writing and Maths as well as time management. Here are a couple examples:
Children who struggle with saying words can ask how to pronounce a word by spelling it out.
For example, with Google Home, children can say, ‘OK, Google, how do you pronounce p-h-o-n-e?’ With Amazon Echo, they can use a skill called Pronunciations and say, ‘Alexa, ask Pronunciations how to say r-o-u-g-h.’
Smart speakers can help children check their Maths work. For example, they can complete a Maths question and then ask the smart speaker what the answer is.
However, parents should encourage children to do the work first. This will help them develop their skill and learn to use technology in appropriate ways.
Smart speakers remove the need for a keyboard and a screen, which makes it a more accessible technology. Children with physical disabilities can still engage with smart speakers with their voice.
Additionally, voice assistants can help neurodiverse children develop habits and routines to support their growth.
You can use smart speakers to set timers, reminders and alarms to support children. These features can help children focus, transition to new activities and remember taks.
This an especially useful feature for busy families.
Some worry about smart speakers and the collection of children's data. Explore the potential risks to children who use smart speakers.
Some worry that the way children interact with smart speakers will impact human interactions. This might include bad manners, impolite demands or half-formed sentences.
However, regular communication with children will help them develop these skills accurately. You can also enforce rules around the manners children use while asking voice assistants questions.
Many smart speakers use female-sounding voice assistants. Female voices are generally easier to understand, which is why they’re used in many announcement systems. Additionally, people generally trust female voices more.
However, some worry that these devices recycle gender stereotypes as voice assistants serve users.
Smart speakers play music connected to your account. If your settings allow explicit content, your child might also access this content.
However, you can turn off explicit content or set up voice recognition on your smart speakers. So, when your child asks for a song, it might filter out inappropriate song.
Additionally, you can set up separate child accounts across apps and devices to reduce this happening.
Many smart speakers let you buy products through the voice assistant. You can generally turn this feature off in your smart speaker settings.
However, it’s also important to talk to children about making purchases without permission.
Help keep children safe while using smart speakers with these quick safety tips.
Talk to children about safe smart speaker use and set boundaries around how they can use their devices.
Set strong passwords on apps used with your smart speaker as well as your accounts. If your child has their own account, do the same for them. These passwords can protect from data breaches while also limiting what children can acces.
Review your smart speaker and the available safety settings. Some have parental controls specific to children. These features might include muting you speaker and turning off interaction history.
Make sure your smart speaker has the latest software. Out-of-date devices can leave your family open to security threats such as data breaches and scams.
When setting up any new device, it's important to check available safety features and potential risks. Understanding how your smart speaker works makes it easier to protect children.
If you want to purchase a new smart speaker, consider kid-friendly alternatives for added safety.
Explore the following smart speakers, which have safety options to support children who use the device.
Amazon provides the Echo Dot Kids to help keep children safe. Additionally, Amazon Kids+ provides more features just for kids.
Echo Dot Kids speakers also have fun designs suitable to kids.
Google Nest products include a range of options to keep kids safe. While they don’t have a child-specific device, the Nest Mini is a good screen-free option.
You can also connect Nest devices to your Family Link parental controls.
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If your family uses Apple products, the HomePod Mini is a good option. It connects to other Apple products like Apple Music.
While it doesn’t have a child-specific option, its screen-free Mini and standard parental controls can help keep kids safe.
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Chatterbox is a DIY smart speaker that kids can build and learn to programme. It responds to different commands and will not collect children’s data. Plus, it helps children develop skills in STEM!
Visit the Chatterbox Site or explore other activities to help kids build skills.
Find more guides to support children's smart speaker safety.
