haddeylium:

A growing number of children have a smartphone, and many of them use their phone to access the Internet in the privacy of their bedroom. What are the risks of letting your child have a smartphone? What are the benefits? How much screen time is too much?

What you should know

What you should ask

Ask yourself if you are ready


What you should know
The Benefits

SAFETY FOR CHILDREN, peace of mind for parents. “We live in a dangerous world,” says Bethany, a mother of two teenagers. “It’s vital for children to be able to contact their parents.”

A mother named Catherine takes it further. “With some apps,” she says, “you can connect to your child’s phone to see where he is. If he’s driving, you can even see how fast he’s going.”

HELP FOR HOMEWORK. “Children get homework via e-mail or text message, and they can communicate with their teachers the same way,” says a mother named Marie.

The Risks

TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME. Young people typically spend several hours a day on their phone. In fact, parents spend about as much time interacting with their devices as they spend in meaningful interaction with their children. Some households have become, as one counselor describes it, “a daily gathering of strangers fixated on a bunch of machines.”

PORNOGRAPHY. According to one estimate, more than half of all teenagers seek out pornography on a monthly basis—hardly surprising, considering the ease with which it can be accessed on a mobile device. “By letting their child have a smartphone,” says William, a father of two teenagers, “parents could be unwittingly opening up a pornography shop that goes wherever the child goes.”

DEPENDENCY. Many people are emotionally attached to their phone. If it is misplaced, they report feeling panicky, desperate, and even sick. Some parents note that their children become rude when using their device. “Sometimes when I want to talk to my son,” says Carmen, “he rolls his eyes or makes a snarky remark because he doesn’t like being interrupted.”

Additional risks. Smartphone use brings with it the risk of cyberbullying and sexting, and can lead to a number of health problems that result from poor posture and a lack of sleep. Some young people use a “ghost app”—an app that appears to be innocent, such as a calculator—to hide content that they do not want their parents to see.

Daniel, the father of a teenage girl, sums it up this way: “A smartphone opens a window to everything the Internet has to offer—both good and bad.”

Focusmind:
No smart phone for my kids for now.

They have laptops and use it for their assignments. They do play with my wife's phone sometimes but all the things they need are in their laptops and desktop computer in their room. They should start their IT knowledge from scratch by mastering desk top and lap top usage before I move them to ipad and smart phones.

Their games and other internet programs are in the laptops and desktop in their room. It is not about carrying smart phones and tablet about.

letustalk:


i tire my brother. I am also amazed at the responses. All my kids have tabs which they use for homework and communicate with the school. There is also the family link on all their devices and myself and wife get prompts before any app can be downloaded. we are also able to restrict sites including google. for the older kids for instance i only allow educational apps and videos. The tabs all have screen off time when the devices automatically lock and can only be unlocked remotely by either me or my wife. One of my nannies attempted to access a pornographic content and i received a prompt in the office. Immediately i called home and it turns out it was the nanny. The benefits are endless and parents have a role to play in appropriately aligning usage to how it should. The times have changed and as much as you feel bothered about these technologies, they will only go higher in complexity and rampancy. Times will never stay still. Time is progressive. I remember when computers started coming out anew. I always helped my dad to type his manuscript unto the computer. Today, that skill alone has helped me in many outstanding ways and i am grateful to my dad for that exposure.

haddeylium:


You're smart tbh.
I love the way you're grooming your kids till when they will nice to make informed decision while shielding them from the uncultured acts on the net.
Kudos Man! Some people here think their wards cannot learn these digital skills without access to smartphone.

Have a great day!

highyo:
No