Team Partners Telecommunications

How young is too young for a smartphone?

Posted on May 28, 2024  | Tags: mobile phones

It has been a month in which it’s been reported that almost a quarter of 5-7 year-olds have a smartphone and that social media use in this age group rose quite steeply over the last year. Apparently, nearly two in five of these are using the messaging service WhatsApp, despite its minimum age requirement of 13; it surely begs the question: what should our position be when it comes to kids and smartphones?

There are different schools of thought as to the ‘right’ age for children to be given mobile phones. Many would say that 13 is a reasonable age, others 8, but both these erudite guesstimates fail to ask what should really be the primary question, which is “What’s the purpose of a phone?” or, more to the point, “What’s the purpose of the phone I’m considering giving to this particular child?”

Almost laughably, many of us have almost forgotten what our original mobile phones were for, which was to enable us to make and receive phone calls whilst on the move and, arguably therefore, there’s no good reason why any child of any age should not have a phone for this purpose, in fact, let’s be generous, throw in the ability to text too, why not!

But here’s where it gets tricky, at what age should you give a child a fully functioning smartphone? And is it too controlling of us to simply say, you shouldn’t, so don’t? A clue to the answer of this is in the first of these two questions, it’s in the word ‘child’ and any way you look at it a child is a child, and children need to be protected, not least from themselves. So, let’s ask a slightly different question: would you give a smartphone to a young adult? What different qualifying facts would this decision entail? or to a teenager? Again, different considerations. Just how responsible is the individual? How mature are they for their age? How comfortable in their own skin? How likely are they to be swayed, impressed or damaged by what they see or read or play? And what are the risks?

We’d suggest...considerable. and at two levels. One is that presented by the very presence of a smartphone, the other by what it brings.

Even the most cursory of glances around us will reveal children of all ages mesmerised by their mobiles instead of engaging in conversation or just in absorbing their surroundings. There must, surely, be long term consequences from living a virtual life in this way, of a whole generation not able to cope with the realities of life in the raw when ‘being grown-up’ hits them... 

And then, in what they’re it is they’re watching or playing, we rest our case.

Perhaps rather than having to decide on the person’s level of responsibility and maturity it would be easier to decide on the phone.

Should it be limited to making and receiving calls?

Should its storage capacity be limited, thereby limiting the number of Apps?

Should constant tracking be built in?

Should downloads be determined by parental control?

What would you, the reader like to say about this, what would your ideal kids phone be able to do? We’d love to hear!