Every day, someone probably asks the question: how young is too young to give a child a cell phone?
And every day, the average response gets a little lower.
“Twelve years of age or younger is too young,” said Myra Dinger, of Baxter Springs, Kan. “I know that many of the students at the middle school (6-8 grades) have cell phones these days.”
Actually, most (60 percent) in that age group (ages 10-14) do have a cell phone, according to the Center on Media and Child Health. The next highest age group is even higher, with 84 percent of youths ages 15-18 having a phone.
And how many from ages six to nine own a phone? According to the Center, it’s 22 percent. And that number is only growing.
For some, the deciding factor is determining whether a child can take care of a phone well enough.
Cady Meyer, an area college student, mentioned that “giving a young child a cell phone is a gamble that they won’t lose it, break it, or have it stolen.”
One option is to give a child a cell phone with limited features, such as a phone that only has the ability to make calls and cannot send text messages or connect to the Internet.
“(It’s OK) in certain situations that you would (find) acceptable,” Dinger said. “More and more people do not have home phones and legally a child 9 or 10 years old can stay home by themselves. I can understand giving them a phone to use for emergencies.”
Ultimately, the choice is up to the parent.
Meyer added, “If the kid is old enough to go out with friends, have a job, or attend overnight school functions…they should have a phone if the parent feels they need it and are responsible enough to own it.”
An ABC News poll says 11 percent of parents are against the idea of giving their child a phone at any age. The website, theonlinemom.com, which provides technology advice to parents, suggests waiting until there is a real, justifiable need for a cell phone, monitoring your child’s use when they do have one, and not buying an expensive phone will all the “bells and whistles.”
“Don’t buy your child a Smartphone until they are smart enough to use it,” the website states.
