How Young is too Young for a Smartphone?
How Young is too Young for a Smartphone?
In our current day and age, most, if not all of us high school students use our smartphones every day. Checking social media, emails, watching videos; these are things that use our smartphones for, sometimes even subconsciously. I believe it's fair to say that we use our devices a lot, but we don't really think much f it. At our age, we are allowed to spend time on our phones right? We can make our own decisions. But what about children? Toddlers? Should they have access to the internet, social media, and tech as a whole at such a young age? Is it bad that children as young as two years of age are already using iphones? Or is it time to embrace these devices and bring them into our early education stages?
In our current day and age, most, if not all of us high school students use our smartphones every day. Checking social media, emails, watching videos; these are things that use our smartphones for, sometimes even subconsciously. I believe it's fair to say that we use our devices a lot, but we don't really think much f it. At our age, we are allowed to spend time on our phones right? We can make our own decisions. But what about children? Toddlers? Should they have access to the internet, social media, and tech as a whole at such a young age? Is it bad that children as young as two years of age are already using iphones? Or is it time to embrace these devices and bring them into our early education stages?
Personally, I believe there are both positive and negative sides to this argument. On one hand, being exposed to the internet in its entirety at a very young age may hinder the development of motor skills or social skills. On the other, children using these devices may be able to become "Tech-Savvy" much faster. So, how young is too young for a smartphone?
I got my first smartphone at the beginning of sixth grade. I remember my parents telling me that I was going to be needing a smartphone, since I was moving up from elementary school. Before then, I was never really attached to technology. Other than owning a kindle and a game console, I didn't really know much about smartphones or computers. Soon after I got my new phone (Which was some old phone by the way), I began exploring the internet a lot more than I had before. I started watching YouTube, scrolling through Reddit and whatnot, and just spending a lot more time on a screen than I usually did. I'm not sure whether this really negatively impacted any aspects of my life at the time, since it wasn't like I was on my phone for hours at a time, but for a younger child like say, a first or second grader, the consequences may be much more prevalent.
In full honesty, I think smartphones should not be given to children who are younger than ten, since it is in those crucial couple of years that children properly start developing their traits and skills. Being exposed to the ideas and opinions of millions of older people online can easily influence a small child's perspective of the world, since young children tend to believe the first things they hear. Of course, there will be special circumstances in which a child may need to be able to contact their parents, but even in this scenario, I believe giving them a non-smartphone (or call/text only phones) would be a better choice, at least until they grow up some more. All in all, it is, up to the parent(s) to decide when to give their child a smartphone, but waiting until at least ten years of age is probably more beneficial to the child's development.
-Josh :|
The image is so grainy :/
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ReplyDeleteOk but real talk: I think that smartphones are a privilege, not a right. And for a child, while being able to contact a parent is necessary, it can be done on a simple flip phone. So, I think while a phone is nearly a necessity now, smartphones are not.
DeleteI agree. Phones should not be given to kids at that young of an age. It is unfortunate many kids under 10 are receiving phones. For example, I have seen 5-6 years old kids walking around with iPhone 11s which is crazy in my opinion. There brains are still developing and they do not need phones to mess with the development.
ReplyDeleteI agree with an over ten years old rule. While I was a bit sceptical at first, your point about younger kids being very impressionable was very convincing, especially considering the average content on the internet. I liked that you considered both positives and negatives to having a smartphone. Smartphones are tools and can be used very effectively for good, but can also hinder developing skills like you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your statement. I don't think that children younger than 10 need to have smartphones. The brains of these young children are growing and the usage of a phone can affect their brains. Personally, I don't think there is much smartphone use needed for children who are young. I didn't get my phone until the beginning of 8th grade and to be honest, I've never realized why I needed a phone in the first place because I didn't have much use for it. I really like how you mentioned both the pros and cons of having a smartphone and it helped me really think about this question.
ReplyDelete-Neeraja