What age should children get a mobile phone?
I was 11 years old when my parents bought my sister and I our first mobile phones. After months of nagging and making promises to keep our bedroom tidy, our parents finally gave in and agreed.
The Motorola D160 wasn’t the best looking mobile phone, but back then it was one of the ‘must have’ phones. Just look at the size on the screen! Imagine having a screen that size now!
It was pretty basic, with it’s green LED backlight and one game included, namely snake, but for my sister and I, it was the best thing since sliced bread!
Of course mobile phones have come a long way since then. I could only ever send texts and make phone calls on my mobile phone, but nowadays we can go online, make video calls and film ourselves live from anywhere in the the world.
I think it’s fair to say that those thinking about buying their children a mobile phone, have a lot more to think about nowadays.
There’s internet safety for a start, along with parental controls and making sure our children use their phones responsibly.
It’s important that you set some ground rules
•Making sure your children don’t run out of data or minutes
•Ensuring your children don’t give their phone number out to strangers
•Teaching your children what photos and videos are acceptable and what’s not
•Of course, you’ll also have to make sure that your children look after their phone
Monitoring Screen Time
When you hand over your child’s mobile phone, it’s important to let them know that the main purpose of their very first phone is to make phone calls to let you know where they are, what time they’ll be home etc, and of course ensuring that your child always answers your phone calls. However, as mentioned above, owning a mobile phone opens up a whole new world of information for your child. They’ll most likely have to access to social media, games and a multitude of apps. There’s also the issue of sleep disruption due to blue light, so making sure your child doesn’t spend all of their spare time on their phone is important.
Parental Controls
Setting up parental controls on your child’s device is an important way to safe guard them and make sure the information, pictures and videos etc that they’re accessing are age-appropriate. If you’re unsure about how to set up parental controls, speak to your network provider or contact the place where you bought the phone.
What age should I give my child a phone?
This is the toughest question of all, and there is no one definitive answer. Each child is different, and as their parents it’s pretty much down to you to make an informed decision about when you think your child is mature and responsible enough to handle having their own mobile phone. One 11 year old may well be old enough, but that doesn’t mean all 11 year olds are. Whatever age you decide upon, make sure you do your research, talk to your child about what you expect of them and make sure they fully understand.
What age did you give your child their mobile phone? I’d love to know.
