When is it time to get your kid a phone?
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If it were up to me, I’d wait to give my son a phone until he was 18. But he’s 12 and almost every one of his friends has one. It’s becoming a social status symbol. I’m not going to cave in just yet but I want to wait until I at least trust enough that he won’t spend most of the time he physically spends with his friends on his phone, like most of those same friends do. I like hi to be out in the world problem solving, thinking, laughing and playing, not Googling, TikTok-ing and Meme-ing. I know there are flip phone options but I didn’t have any kind of cell phone until I was in my late 20s! What do you think?     
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Answers (1)
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This is such a tricky question. Many kids seem to have phones long before they actually need them and there is plenty of research out there that advises us to wait as long as possible before giving in to the pressure to give our kids a smart-phone. At the same time, we don't want to socially isolate our kids or put them on the technological back foot. If his friends are starting to communicate using phone based apps like WhatsApp, you could compromise and allow him to set up a profile on your phone, or have one of your older phones on hand for him to use for a limited time each day. You can also let him use this phone if he is going to be out somewhere and needs to be able to reach you.
If you do decide to get him a phone of his own, there are several apps available that allow for parental management of the phone. You can use them to set screen time limits, limit internet access, and block apps or websites that are age inappropriate.
My kids were allowed their own phones once they started high school, but phone usage was monitored and we had regular conversations about online safety and chatted extensively about the responsible use of social media.
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