How to protect your child's iPod Touch

Look around next time you see a bunch of kids gathered together. If they are between the ages of 8 and 12, there’s a good chance they have some sort of electronic gadget in their hand. In the case of my two sons (and pretty much everyone of their friends), it’s an iPod Touch.

It used to be a big deal to give a kid this age such an expensive gadget but now it’s almost the norm. Yeah, I know, this is probably not right but that’s a discussion for another blog post.

The bigger concern to me is how in the heck to protect a $200+ gadget in the hands of a 4th or 5th grader. For me, I used a two-fold approach.

Step 1: Protect against drops and scratches

To start with, I immediately purchased the OtterBox Defender Series case for each of my sons’ iPod Touches. This is like getting two cases in one. The first (inner) case is hard plastic and completely encases the iPod Touch. This helps protect the screen while still allowing full use of the touch interface.

The second (outer) case is the typical silicone case you would expect. It wraps around the inner case and protects against drops, scratches and dents.

Sure, both these cases together add a bit of bulk to the iPod Touch but neither of my sons seem to care and it puts me at much greater ease when watching my boys acting like boys with their iPod Touches.

Step 2: Protect your wallet when step 1 doesn’t work

The second line of defense I used was to purchase an extended warranty from SquareTrade. Yes, I know you can get the AppleCare warranty from Apple but AppleCare only protects against flaws and defects—not accidental drops, spills or full submersion in water. SquareTrade does. And for up to 3-years (if you want) I might add.