Deciding at what age to get your child a cell phone is a decidedly 21st century parenting conundrum. I originally started writing this article with the full intention of doing the research for you and boiling it down to a simple number. That isn't going to happen. I can't make your decision for you. Every kid is different, every family is different. What I can do is present you with some information to make your decision an informed, and hopefully easier one.
What's everybody else doing?Let's start with some numbers from a 2011 study conducted by Elizabeth Englander at Bridgewater State University. A surprisingly high 20% of eight year olds own their own phones according to the study. For 10 year olds the number climbs to 39% and dramatically to 83% for middle school kids. This study did not differentiate smart phones from other devices. It's also worth noting that this study was conducted among 20,000 children in Massachusetts. The difference between smart and dumb phones was not considered in this study. A recent SodaHead poll of 1,066 parents however, found 66% believing smart phones should be kept out of a child's hands until their 16th birthday.
Issues to consider:It's important to know what kind of issues you need to thinking about when making the decision for your own kids. I found an article from Kevin Mercadante at parentingfamilymoney.com that did a great job of listing some of things you should be thinking about. Kevin decided to broke it down into a simple pro and con list that makes a lot of sense. Remember, this article is about giving you the best information to make this decision yourself.
reasons to wait...Expense. A clearly important factor. There are ways to moderate it through different phones and plans, however the best conceived ideas combining kids, cell phones and saving money are at best a tough balancing act. Take a prepaid plan with limited minutes, and the child can have them used up before he ever has a need to call you. I've known people who have taken prepaid or very limited plans, only to convert them to something more generous a few months later. They're kids, so we have to have flexibility built into any plan, and that will cost extra.
Cell phones aren't toys. As a rule kids tend to be casual about their possessions and instilling a sense of responsibility can be a challenge. The younger they are, the more difficult this will be. But to a child under ten just about anything is a toy. Not only will they drop it, toss it and play catch with it but they'll find a way to use it for everything but its intended purpose.
Distraction. The younger children are the more easily they get distracted. And while they already have plenty of distractions in their lives, cell phones add an extra dimension: they're portable! Not only will your child be distracted when sitting in front of the TV or computer, but his phone will be a constant traveling companion that will keep him occupied when he should be doing other things.
Theft and loss. We all lose things, we all have items stolen from us. But like it or not, kids lose them quicker, and seem to live in a world crawling with sticky-fingered peers. Yes, there are insurance plans to help cover this, but a child can test the limits of just about any plan you have. The younger your kids are, the more likely they are to lose their phones, or have them stolen. This is a strong argument against providing phones for very young children.
Proper use. Now that cellphones are so common, they've also become an issue in school. Use of cellphones in school is usually handled by confiscation. At my kids' schools, they can retrieve the phones at the end of the day on a first offense, and after that only the parent can get them back. The younger the child, the more trips you'll need to make to the front office to retrieve a confiscated phone. I'm certain detentions are meted out after a certain number of confiscations. The point is, your child needs to be able to comprehend and apply proper judgment on when and where to use his phone.
reasons not to wait...Keeping tabs on them. As each year passes in a child's life they venture farther from home and for longer periods of time. As normal as this may be, as parents we still need to know where they are, especially when they're young. Cell phones are a critical way of maintaining a connection when kids out of sight.
Safety and emergencies. It should be enough that cellphones can give you immediate contact with your children in a crisis, but they do even more. If you have young children and you've ever taken them to Disney World you'll appreciate this point quickly. No matter how careful you are, kids have a way of getting separated from their parents, especially in crowded places. But if they have cell phones you'll be able to find them quickly, and just as important, it will eliminate the panic that can set in when they disappear. Ever since we got cell phones for our kids, trips to the park, the mall and yes, even Disney World, aren't nearly as scary.
Social factors. This shouldn't be a factor, but it's a major consideration for your child. As kids are getting cell phones at increasingly earlier ages, social factors become real. No child wants to be one of only three kids in her class who doesn't have a cell phone. And worse, those cell phones "need" to be of a certain type, and carry socially desirable features to make the cut. Like it or not, the social component will be a factor in your cell phone choice sooner or later. My guess is sooner...
Health ConcernsYou may have heard stories about a radiation risk from wireless devices. I always assumed this wasn't much of a concern, but what do the experts say? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the commission to reconsider it's radiation standards for children. AAP President Dr. Robert Block, wrote that children "are not little adults and are disproportionately impacted by all environmental exposures, including cell phone radiation." The National Cancer Institute's website includes this message on the issue: "in theory, children have the potential to be at greater risk than adults for developing brain cancer from cell phones." Of course children aren't going to be spending much time with a cell phone pressed to the side of their heads, they'd rather be texting.
Some parents have expressed worries over eye strain and even long term eye damage. The AAP doesn't seem very concerned about the issue. "Probably much ado about nothing,' said the chair of their ophthalmology section, Dr. James Ruben. There infact seems to be little evidence of any increase in vision problems related to cell phone use among children and young adults.
So now what?I'm not an expert or a parent of a 'tween' but this is my article, so forget what I said in the first paragraph. You're getting a number. I think most 6th graders are ready for a phone, though I'd limit them to a non smartphone. From what I understand, it's pretty common for parents to show up at 5th graduations with phones for their newly minted 'tweens.' I think this makes a lot of sense. And if we are giving phones away at graduation, I'd save the smartphone for middle school graduation.
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