At what age can children buy mobile phones?

The use of mobile phones has become very popular among children. This issue has grown significantly since the corona virus epidemic and the virtualization of education. But do children really need mobile phones and if the answer is yes, from what age should these smart gadgets be provided to them?

From the general point of view, the use of mobile phones and social networks is probably tied to a negative mentality, and many parents assume by default that they should not provide these devices to their children from childhood. Even the famous singer, “Madonna” says that she regrets giving her children mobile phones at the age of 13 and will never repeat such an act.

But on the other hand, you must have a smartphone and you do many of your daily tasks through it. From checking messengers, to shopping online, making video calls and checking email, our lives are tied to these electronic gadgets. So, if we don’t get mobile phones for our children, aren’t we depriving them of a useful tool?

There are many unanswered questions about the long-term effects of smartphones and social networks on the minds of children and teenagers, but the available research partially informs us about their advantages and disadvantages. Of course, there is still no conclusive evidence to show that having a mobile phone or using social networks in general is harmful to children’s health, but the whole story probably does not end with this statement.

Most of the existing studies focus not on adolescents but on young adults. The evidence recently published by the scientific community shows that children can probably be more exposed to the negative effects of this exposure in some phases of development. In addition, researchers agree that in order to make decisions about buying mobile phones for children and how to control them in using these tools, several points should be considered.

What do the statistics say about the use of mobile phones by children?

Data from “Ofcom”, the British communications regulator, shows that most children in this country have a smartphone by the age of 11. In fact, 44% of 9-year-old children also have a mobile phone, but this share reaches 91% by the age of 11. In America, 37% of parents of 9-11 year olds say their child has a smartphone. A European research in 19 countries of the Green Continent also showed that 80% of children aged 9 to 16 use smartphones daily or almost every day.

Candice Odgers, a professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Irvine, USA, says: “In older teenagers, more than 90 percent of children have a mobile phone.” Although a European report on the use of digital technologies among children from birth to eight years of age found that this group has no or limited understanding of online risks, when it comes to the harmful effects of mobile phones and social networks on older children. There is no evidence.

Odgers reviewed six other studies that examined the link between the use of digital technologies and the mental health of children and adolescents. However, he says he hasn’t seen any consistent link between technology use and teen health. Of course, several studies reported the link between the two, but this link, whether positive or negative, was small.

Another study conducted by Amy Urban, an experimental psychologist at the University of Cambridge in the UK, found evidence that is still inconclusive. Although a small negative correlation was found at the end of the study, Orben says it is impossible to draw conclusions about whether technology has harmed health, and whether other factors have influenced both factors.

Of course, these results all provide average data. Orben says there is a lot of variation in the low and high limits of the findings of these studies, and the personal experience of teenagers depends largely on their own circumstances. This means that, regardless of what seems to be the general evidence, there may be children who have problems as a result of using social networks or some specific applications, and it is essential that parents pay attention to this issue.

Mobile access can be beneficial for children

Mobile phones can be useful for some children and provide new ways to access information and communicate with others. Sonia Livingstone, a professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, says: “Put yourself in the place of a teenager who has problems in the puberty process, or his physical and sexual conditions are not progressing like his peers, or in a situation where adults do not pay attention to climate change, he He is worried about this issue.

Most children use mobile phones to communicate with their family friends. If you look at who your kids talk to the most online, you’ll find that there’s a lot of overlap with what kids do offline: “I think the idea that we’re leaving kids alone with their cell phones is a big deal for some kids,” Odgers says. “The risk is real, but most of them use these devices to communicate, share and co-view content.”

In fact, despite the fact that smartphones are commonly thought to be the cause of children not spending time outside the home, a Danish study of 11-15 year olds found that mobile phones have allowed children to be independent in their commutes. Because they have increased the sense of security in parents and have been able to help children navigate.

What disadvantages can phones have for children?

Children’s constant communication with their friends is not without risk. “I think phones have filled an important need in teenage life that had never been met,” says Livingstone. But these devices can also create a sense of compulsion in them and create a kind of norm. “These products can pressure children into feeling like there’s a place for popular people that they can’t get into or that they’re left out.”

Orben and his colleagues concluded in an article a few months ago that the use of social networks at certain ages can lead to a decrease in life satisfaction in later years. By examining more than 17,000 people between the ages of 10 and 21, they found that more use of social networks at the ages of 11 to 13 for girls and 14 to 15 for boys can cause a drop in life satisfaction the following year. On the other hand, less use of social networks has increased the level of life satisfaction of these people one year later.

Another time window, this time shared by both sexes, is at age 19, around the time children leave home. Of course, parents should not consider these periods of time definitive for their decisions, but it is worth noting that developmental changes can make children more sensitive to the negative effects of social networks. For example, during adolescence, people’s brain changes are huge and these changes can affect how they behave and feel.

Adolescence is an important period in the development process

“Adolescence is an important period in the growth process,” says Orben. You are more influenced by your peers and care more about what they think about you. And the way social networks are designed, which is more or less providing a platform for social communication and receiving feedback through a mouse click, may sometimes cause you more anxiety.”

Although studies can give families food for thought in order to make a decision to buy mobile phones for children, they cannot say when this should be done. “I think by saying it’s complicated, we naturally leave it up to parents to answer that question,” Orben says. But it’s actually not a bad thing because it’s a very personal thing.”

The question parents should ask is, what is the role of the mobile phone for my child and my family? For many parents, buying a mobile phone is a practical decision. “In many cases, parents themselves want their younger children to have a cell phone so they can talk to them throughout the day and coordinate their plans,” Odgerz says.

Buying a mobile phone for teenagers can be the beginning of a path towards adulthood. Anya Stoich, a researcher at the Communication Unit of the University of Vienna, Austria, says: “I think that mobile phones give children a sense of independence and responsibility. This is something parents must consider: Are my children old enough to be responsible enough to own their own device?

Another issue that parents should consider is how they feel about their child having a mobile phone. A study by Stoich and his colleagues has shown that when parents lose their sense of control over their child’s use of mobile phones, both parents and their children have more conflicts.

The use of mobile phones by children should be properly controlled

Having a smartphone does not necessarily mean free access to all applications and games. “I’m hearing more and more in conversations with kids that their parents are giving them cell phones but requiring reviews on their devices and talking about the apps they’re using, and I think that’s probably a very wise decision,” Livingstone says.

Odgers says: “The issue of monitoring is up to a certain extent, but there should also be communication and freedom, that is, we can support what our children see and experience online, just as we do offline.”

In addition, parents should pay attention to their own habits when establishing rules for the use of mobile phones at home. “Children hate hypocrisy,” says Livingstone. “They hate feeling like they’re being told not to do something, but their parents are doing the same thing.”

Even small children learn from the way their parents use smartphones. A report in Europe about the use of mobile phones in children from birth to eight years old showed that this age group has almost no understanding of the possible risks of the online space, but they often mirror their parents’ behavior in using technology.

Finally, it should be said that deciding when to buy a mobile phone for children is a special decision of the parents. Some prefer not to buy such a device for their children at all and instead compensate this loss with more innovative methods. In fact, coping with the fear of being left behind by not having a cell phone can be a useful lesson for teenagers. However, deciding in this field and considering the advantages and disadvantages of buying mobile phones for children should be done by the parents themselves.