There has been unending debate on whether kids should own a smartphone. Parents are divided on whether it is beneficial to get a smartphone for a child or not. And those that would not mind getting one for their child are torn on what age it would be right to give a child a smartphone. So should kids own a smartphone?
The risks when kids own a smartphone
Exposure to indecent content
I cannot forget what my friend, Kathy, said she went through when she saw her child innocently bump into a pornography website. Her boy was only 7 and didn’t understand what was going on and had to take the phone to his mother for some explanations.
Can you imagine how embarrassed my friend and her son were? She was forced to teach her young child about sex education earlier than she had intended. Well, she also let him know the consequences of getting involved in such acts at an early stage.
You may blame my friend for not setting some controls on her boy’s smartphone to prevent this from happening. But times have changed. These people parading such indecency online have devised innocent means of deceiving people into visiting pornography websites unsuspectingly.
Cyberbullying
Another danger of getting a smartphone for your child at an early stage is because of cyberbullying. Kids are now allowed to join social media. Some of them lie about their age and join, only to meet with an environment of bullying or hate that they were not prepared for.
Then the child either becomes hardened and develops a tough skin to meet up with the demands of such platforms. Or they make him become an introvert.
Terrorism recruiting
It is no longer news that kids are being lured innocently to join terrorist organizations online. One of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups, ISIS, is known to recruit young people online with a promise of great reward for joining and working for the group.
Social vices 
Closely related to pornography is the fact that some kids start sharing their naked pictures online. The case reported by New York Times of not less than 100 Colorado high school students who were trading naked pictures of themselves online comes to mind.
Some games on the smartphone can serve as a distraction for the child. And being exposed to social media can even lead some of them into dating even before they reached appropriate age.
These are some of the negative aspects when kids own a smartphone. However, are there only bad sides to buying a smartphone for a child or are there some good sides too?
Benefits of a child owning a smartphone
Early exposure to technology
There is no doubt that technology is the way forward in our world today. High tech drives a lot of companies today and is also the reason we can talk about a global world. The earlier your child gets introduced to this world, the better equipped he will be able to meet up with this ever dynamic trend.
What better way to get your child prepared than to get him a smartphone or an internet-enabled computer. Since most mobile devices are very flexible, your child can get ahead with his knowledge of technology.
Advanced learning
There is virtually nothing you can search for on the internet and not find. With YouTube and other video channels, your child can get ahead of his peers in school in learning by accessing such websites. There are no limits to what your child can learn on such free platforms.
He will also be able to solve some of his homework with the help of the internet on his smartphone. This is usually the case if the homework requires some research.
Your child can also learn other languages online with his smartphone for free or paid for.
Skills acquisition 
Skills acquisition is becoming very important as parents are equipping their kids to face the world. Your child’s smartphone can keep him ahead of his peers because he can acquire skills other kids of his age are not even considering yet.
There is no doubt that many adults have learned how to build a website, how to makeup, how to write and many other things by accessing the internet. Your child can learn how to build a website at an early age if he has interest in it. And this is something he can conveniently do with his smartphone.
Access to useful apps
In this unsafe world, many developers have created apps that can help keep your child safe through his smartphone. Some apps are made to alert the police or trace the child’s whereabouts should the child be in danger. There are some good educational apps that your child can benefit from as well.
At what age should kids own a smartphone?
A 2016 report from Marketing Agency Influence Central reported that the average American child gets a smartphone at the age of 10. In Canada, a 2014 survey showed that not less than one-quarter of children in Grade 4 owned a smartphone. Meanwhile, tech experts suggest that a child should own a smartphone from age 12.
You as the parent get to decide.
Now that we have taken a look at the risks and benefits of getting a smartphone for your child, and at what age a child should get a smartphone, what is the way forward?
The way forward is for you as a parent to determine if the benefits of getting a smartphone for your child outweigh the risks.
And when you eventually get one for your child, you can also set up parental controls and make use of some apps that prevent your child from accessing indecent websites.
Such an interesting read and topic. It seems that so many use it now, but dont really need it until they are older.
These are hard decision for us parents. Thanks for reading!
Oh this is such a tough one! I am glad I am still years away from having to make a decision (my daughter is two). It’s something I think about already though! I wonder what the smartphone landscape will be like in 5 or 10 years when I have to decide since tech changes so quickly.
You’re right! Technology changes soo quickly. It’s one reason that some experts recommend allowing children to get comfortable using technology early — so they can adapt and learn faster, as technology changes. However, you’re the parent, and like so many other things, you get to decide when, how, where, and what kind of technology your kids will be exposed to. Thanks for reading!
Oh technology! We have a love/hate relationship. Yes, there are benefits. However, for me those benefits do no outweigh the negatives that are associated with social media, smart phones, and technology in general… especially not in the hands of children that are unable to critically think efficiently due to the fact that their frontal lobe (part of the brain that controls critical thinking) is the last to re-wire during puberty. My son is 12 and he does have a smart phone. However, with that comes boundaries and barriers. Though some may not agree with that, I feel like it is so important that we protect our children from the risks that come with technology.
There are some serious risks, definitely. But there are serious risks to a lot of things that are also good and fun. We put fences around pools and give our kids swimming lessons, but we don’t necessarily prevent our kids from going in the water! Boundaries are just part of parenting, right? Technology can be a useful tool, and its up to each family to decide for themselves.
GREAT article! Lots of great points here. I tend to think of the potential negative effects of using a mobile, but for sure there are lots of positive aspects too, as you noted. Thanks for all the info!