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.”

Review: Should my child have a smartphone?
Ask yourself these questions:

Does my child really need a smartphone? Have I weighed the benefits and the risks? Would a basic phone suffice?

Is my child ready for the responsibility? Does he or she show self-restraint with other devices, such as the TV or a tablet?

Am I ready for the responsibility? Can I train my child to show good judgment in using a smartphone?


Source: Jw.org
Visit for more parenting tips that could help to determine your usage of smartphone

Am still thinking if I will allow my young daughter to own a fone at an early stage

Hollawayn05:
Am still thinking if I will allow my young daughter to own a fone at an early stage

IMO
With the current waves in this world today, the RISK overweigh the advantages.
Basic phones are still available if it's necessary she does

your child shouldn't Because 90% of website deal with Pirated contents you child will Innocently access this websites and be exposed to Tons of Pornographic Content!

No, it shouldn't be encouraged.
Because the device has a higher potential of distracting them

E be like na old people full this Nairaland. Shey una never hear of child lock or parental control before?

I guess

I will surround my offsprings with tech gadgets at a tender age. It doesn’t stop there because it’s also my responsibility to guide them through the pros as well as shelter them from the cons.

Nothing can be hidden forever from teenagers in this 21st century. So the earlier you give them a balanced exposure the better.

Let me ask you OP -

Would you rather trek a long distance to your destination and not use a car simply because there’s a possibility of road accident using a car?

I hope you get my point

Monitor their activities whether phone or not.

Yes

This is not stone age for Christ sake

We have parental control and other advance monitoring systems on smartphones now

Ok

If they must, you should have a tracking app on it to monitor their activity

Nice post.

Ignorant is not good, you can discipline children with phones without the latest target just for communication.

0My 9 years old nephew stays with my ageing mum. I've been noticing some distasteful characters that he's been exhibiting recently. But I didn't really read much meaning to them

Not until I went to my home town for a few weeks, and I caught him at the balcony downloading porn with my Mum's phone.

It all now started to make sense to me, because my Mum complains that her weekly data doesn't even last a day, and she hardly ever uses any app.

Going through the browser history I found search keywords like;

>Ashley Aleigh pus*y pictures
>Kapri pussy pictures
>Only Kapri pus*y


I was horrified and amused at the same time. I almost burst out laughing. I gave him a stern warning and asked him to return the phone.

A week later, what happens?
Mum goes to market and buys him a smartphone, claiming that he doesn't let her phone rest, then she pleaded for me to give him one of my old SIM cards because buying a new sim card is expensive now.

Just last month one of our tenants in his age range called me with his father's phone, and reported that my Nephew wants to learn Yaho*

A 9 year old o!!!

I just weak

Dicey situation

No

Hmm
They can have it but with some restrictions

How old is the child in question?

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.”

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.”

Good morning my fellow nairalanders,I have never had the cause to do something like this on Nl,but the urgency of the situation on ground has forced my will,please and please i need your support to procure medications and foot the hospital bills of a brilliant young girl I taught while I was serving in one of the northern states,the family can really not describe the ailment,but they have spent their all trying to save their daughter.it was when I visited my former PPA this week,that I discovered she has been seriously ill for a while now,she was one of my favorite students, then because she stood out as one of the best students in her class,please i just want us to donate the little we can as it ll go a long way to making her situation better,a total sum of 400k is needed,but whatever we can raise for her will go to her ,so at least something can be done at all,please let our little contributions ,help save her life,for some reasons and how gory the situation is ,I am not posting her pictures all donations should go to her account .Mohammed zainab 3176350308 first bank plc, Thanks and God bless you all,let God touch your hearts to do something for this young lady, together let our cash donations give this young Nigerian a second chance at life

CandyOps:
E be like na old people full this Nairaland. Shey una never hear of child lock or parental control before?

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.

It depends, that child might be the next computer Guru, so kill the Genius in the child

haddeylium:

”

A smart fone for my children that is 7 years and above is not bad at all. All my kids have their tabs and individual netflix profiles where I monitor what they watch like Cartoons and educationals from YouTube and other apps like abc mouse, etc.
This is jet age and you must move with the trend or be left behind .
My last born is less than 2yrs and I had to buy her a tab because she was always harassing her elders for theirs. This gives her own tab to watch her sing along continuously whilst giving me and my wife respite for the TV. Just ensure you enable parental control and monitor what they are accessing. You must always have screen time for them otherwise they will become addicted to their gadgets.

Bad idea.

They get addicted to it and its now a problem.

You have some nice points in there!

https://tomvad.com/5-risks-of-a-child-using-a-mobile-phone-with-great-tips/

I got android phones for my kids 10 and 12.
For me, I want them to have it so I remove the whole big deal out of it.
I act like I don't care about what they do with it so that I can study each person's use of the phones and the internet.
I recently stumbled upon Google family link app that allows me monitor and restrict.
Kids shouldn't be taken advantage of because of the things we didn't ourselves expose them to.