Corpus Christi (KIII news) — The average child sends 80 text messages a day.
As part of Child Abuse Awareness Month employees at Driscoll Children's Hospital are educating parents on the dangers of social media and how to protect your children from online abuse.
Driscoll staff said they meet kids as young as seven who have smartphones. Sonja Eddleman with the Care Teams said young children should have phones that can only be used to get a hold of their parents or family members.
Additionally, Eddleman encourages parents to be aware of who their children or teens are communicating with, and to warn them never to meet up with someone they met online.
"Our phones are so common for us, and we have them all the time now that we think they're not going to put us in danger. But they end up telling people where we're at, what we look like, what are our habits, and they're easy for people to find a child because they could've looked up already who they are," Eddleman said.
There are also apps that allow children to communicate with strangers or even share pictures. Eddleman urges that parents should block all apps and then only allow certain ones for use.
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