How would you feel about getting your own small children a smartphone?

[Shavkat]

I do not think that there is something wrong when we purchase smartphones for our young kids. As long as they know what their limitations are, they can have them.

 

[bestwriter]

When you say small kids I think anyone below the age of 5 should not be given a mobile and even those older kids should have parental guidance

 

[Grungie]

Iirc you can put parental restrictions on phones depending on the OS.

 

[Cherry123]

Well, I will give them but make sure to monitor what they do with it. I might not recharge data for them to avoid watching what they shouldn't.

 

[raaman]

I will postpone it till they become adults. For me, their education is important.

 

[King Belieal]

I don't have a kid yet but I don't even see anything wrong with giving my kids a smartphone. It is their age and it requires that they become tech savvy early.

 

[KO896]

I don't see a reason why any child under the age of 12 would need a phone? My daughter was running cross country at 12 and her reasoning for needing a phone was so that she could call me to come pick her up after practice.

 

[Cam's iconCam]

We'll see how I feel about this discussion when I actually have kids, but I would plan to get my child a phone at thirteen, just because that's when I got mine. I've got nieces and nephews that are absolutely glued to their phones and their 4-5 years old, and I don't want that for my currently nonexistent children.

 

[KO896]

We'll see how I feel about this discussion when I actually have kids, but I would plan to get my child a phone at thirteen, just because that's when I got mine. I've got nieces and nephews that are absolutely glued to their phones and their 4-5 years old, and I don't want that for my currently nonexistent children.

Good thinking!

My sister's boyfriend's grandson was glued to technology since he was a toddler and his mom did that to keep him busy while she did drugs

 

[Grungie]

I don't see a reason why any child under the age of 12 would need a phone? My daughter was running cross country at 12 and her reasoning for needing a phone was so that she could call me to come pick her up after practice.

It makes sense if both parents work and they need a way to contact their kid(s).

To prevent children from being glued to their phones, parents could also practice this new fangled thing called parenting to prevent their kids from being addicted to smart phones. Things like setting time limits (and follow through with it), alongside using the phone’s built in features to restrict things.

People take the easy route and blame the technology, but the real culprit is that the parents of the children are allowing the behavior. The previous demons that were “ruining” children were TV and video games, but now it’s tablets and cell phones.

 

[nomad]

I will not buy a smartphone for my kid until he is 13 years of age, but I would sometimes let the kid use my phone and watch youtube or play games