Has your child asked for a smartphone? This dad weighs in.
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Today’s world is vastly different than it was for us parents when we were kids. When it came to electronics, the TV was the main time-sucker. Video games were on the rise, but still in their infant stage. The majority of us still spent our free time outside, playing tag, hide-n-seek in the neighbors’ yards, and using the streetlights as our timers for when it was time to come home.
Nowadays video games are a billion-dollar industry, virtual reality is no longer a thing of science fiction, and now children as young as 4 are using smart devices.
With all of this new technology saturating our everyday lives, it can be hard to gauge when it’s the right time to let our children have a smartphone.
She’s Growing Up
My daughter was 10 when she first came to me in earnest asking for a cell phone. Out of reflex, I flat out said “No.” When she asked me why, I had to stop and think about it. All of the reasons that came to mind were simply parroting what had been said to me growing up about video games.
Smartphones are an entirely different beast, with a lot of utility. That utility, however, comes at the price of privacy and no real way to regulate it.
I believe in being fair and avoiding the “Because I said so” responses of my childhood. I told her that we would talk about it that evening and I would go over my reasons in detail. This gave me the time I needed to really research the subject.
What I found wasn’t encouraging.
Good Reason for Caution
With a smartphone and unregulated access to the internet and the influence of schoolmates, I have no way of controlling what my daughter sees. This means trusting in my child’s age and wisdom to make reasonable judgements about what she’s seeing.
Not only that, but social media such as Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Snapchat can flood her with:
- Sex
- Drugs
- Violence, and
- Bullying
All a negative influence before she’s old enough to process what she’s being exposed to.
It Takes a Village
Fortunately, the positive side of a world brought together by the internet is that these are dangerous waters we parents don’t have to navigate alone.
Parenting experts at Help Your Teen Now dove into this exact topic and put together an impressive collection of information detailing the dangers of smartphone use. For parents looking to be aware of the risks, it’s a great resource.
Is Your Child Ready?
It’s not all bad. Studies have shown that children with access to technology develop stronger cognitive abilities, and when guided by parents, it’s a good chance to teach critical thinking.
Technology can be a great thing, but it’s up to parents to decide when their child is ready for the responsibility of access to the world’s information.
Tyler Jacobson is a husband, father, freelance writer and outreach specialist with experience with organizations that help troubled teens and parents. His areas of focus include: parenting, social media, addiction, mental illness, and issues facing teenagers today. Follow Tyler on: Twitter | Linkedin
This post has been republished to Medium.
Photo credit: iStock