Page 210 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

Tools for Parents • Chapter 8

In-App Purchases and Credit Card

There’s nothing more distressing as a parent than to receive a $200 iTunes bill
because your child has downloaded hundreds of different cake toppings for her
virtual Hello Kitty cake at 99 cents each. (Hand raised here as a parent who
has experienced this exact scenario.) There are two things you need to know
about your child’s iTunes account: You can (and should) manage the account,
and you shouldn’t tie a credit card to it. This can be done by “purchasing” a
free app when you first create the account and choosing “none” as payment
type.

If your child wants to purchase an
app or song, you can have them
load in credit via iTunes gift cards
so they have a set amount that they
can manage. If for some reason
you do decide to tie a credit card to
the account, I’d highly recommend
going into restrictions (mentioned
below) and turning off the “In-App
Purchases” option. This will help
you avoid any surprise $200 Hello
Kitty cake bills in the future.

Age-Level Restrictions

The Apple iOS operating system
comes equipped with a powerful
built-in restriction option. This
option, when enabled, allows you
to control whatever content is
coming into the phone regardless
of internet filter (Figure 8.1). One
word of advice here is that when
establishing a restriction passcode, Figure 8.1 Some of the items you can turn off
on your phone.
make sure it is one that your kids

Mobile Learning Mindset: The Parent’s Guide to Supporting Digital Age Learners 91

Mobile Learning Mindset: The Parent’s Guide to Supporting Digital-Age Learners 210