Your child is pestering you to give her the phone. All her friends have their own phone .
May be you are apprehensive and thinking what is the right age to give your child a phone.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates says, he gave his kids phone when they were 14. On average, kids get their own phone these days at the age of 10, which was averaging 12 just a few years back.
Before giving your child a phone, you should consider these:
Also Read: How to prevent technology addiction – 5 Simple Steps
1.Does my child need phone:
Is your child coming home from school or an activity by him or herself ?
If answer to this question is ‘No’, then possibly you do not need to give phone to your child just yet.
Is there any possibility your child will need to communicate with you during or after school?
When my 9 year old twins ask me, at what age will I give them phone? I tell them, it is not just about age, you may get the phone when you actually need it.
2.What kind of phone my child needs:
If the answer to first question is ‘Yes’, then next question comes:
Does your child need a smart phone?
If your child is doing homework in school or after school then possibly he or she will need a smart gadget with data plan.
Other than that just for simple communication they can go with basic phone with call and text capability (no data plan).
This will save money as well as prevent possibly addictive effect of smart gadgets.
Kids during their tween and teen years are more vulnerable to harmful effects of social media.
Keeping your child away from social apps like Facebook and Instagram until they are mature to handle social media is highly recommended. In-fact legally kids under 13 are not even allowed to have their accounts on these apps.
Also Read: Inspiration – Story about perseverance and grit
3. Is my child aware of and mature enough to handle digital world:
If you believe your child indeed needs a smart phone then additional points to consider are about yours child’s maturity to keep themselves safe in digital world.
- Have you had conversation with your child about how to be safe in digital world as well as not to put anyone else in trouble by sending or forwarding harmful posts/texts.
- Have you discussed with them how will you be able to monitor their usage for their own safety or how they will be able to control their own usage of smart phone.
- Have you considered harmful effects social apps can have on their behavior and development and how they can they stay away from it.
Hope these points will help you to make an informed decision about letting your child have his/her own phone/digital gadget.
Do let me know if there are additional points your considered when allowing your child their own phone .
