Smartphones at What Age?

Your children and teens are most likely not going to like what I have to share with you today. It has to do with the proper age to put a smartphone in a child’s hands. Chances are, if your child or teen doesn’t have their own smartphone, they’re telling you that they are the last person in their school or perhaps even on the face of the earth to be living phone-less. For starters, that’s not true. In addition, our parental decision-making should not hinge on what everyone else is doing, but what it is that is wise. Let me pass on to you the recommendation of the researchers at the Institute for Family Studies: Delay giving your child a smartphone for as long as possible, until age sixteen or eighteen. Children having their own portable internet-enabled device makes it much easier to obtain social media accounts without permission, access harmful information online, and communicate with unknown adults. If you want to be able to contact your child, give them a cell phone without internet access.