How to encourage children to use mobile phones safely

The safe use of mobile phones is part of the health promotion duty of children's nurses and those nurses working in schools. In this article the author advocates that children and young people should be encouraged to keep and use their mobiles in a safe place, avoid lengthy and incessant calls, provide their number only to those they feel they can trust and switch off the phone as soon as possible. They need to take care with the type of messages they send and to tell someone they can trust about any cyberbullying. The nurse can also help with school policies and can attend groups in schools and youth organisations to discuss the positive and negative aspects of mobile phone technology.