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The Average Age For a Child Getting Their First Smartphone Is Now 10.3 Years (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A TechCrunch article, citing a report on Influence Central, states that the average age for a child getting their smartphone is now 10.3 years. The report adds that 64% of kids have access to the Internet via their own laptop or tablet, compared to just 42% in 2012. Also, 39% of kids get a social media account at 11.4 years, and 11% get a social media account when they were younger than 10.
Zimbabwe, right?
My son is 3 and I have another on the way. This stuff really concerns me. When I was growing up I had to work a fast food job just to afford what we call a "dumb" phone now - at age 16. My sons will have, in their pocket, full access to the breadth of the internet by the age of 10, or be social outcasts for not. What does this mean for their generation? I like to be optimistic, but it can't be good.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I will not trust my child with a private computer, digital camera, or cell phone until high school. And even then, it will be for very low values of "trust". I was young. I know what we would have done with those tools had we had them. I'm not letting my child's life get screwed up by such indiscretions.
Want photos? Excellent. Here's a camera, film, and some batteries. Remember, these will have to be developed down the street.
Want to use the computer. Fine. It's my computer. My lock down. And it's in the dining room.
Want to use a phone to call someone? Cool. Here's the land line.
*Need* a cell phone? Alright, here's one with three buttons: Mom, Dad, and Police.
Oh, you bought one yourself? Neat! It's mine now.
You hate me? I'm so very sad. No child has ever hated a parent before.
I'm nearly 53 and I still haven't owned a smartphone.
Also, 39% of kids get a social media account at 11.4 years, and 11% get a social media account when they were younger than 10.
We are letting the personal information of children be sold for profit. This is a more certain sign of the decay of society than most that I can think of. It doesn't matter how harmless some people may think this is, the bigger problem is that most people don't think of that problem at all. They sign little Johnnie up for a facebook account so that he can see Grandma's wall, and pretty soon Johnnie's personal events are being sold to every company you can think of.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
A year or two ago I would have said I'd never buy a little a tablet or smartphone. My one year old daughter ended up at a childcare place where they use ipads, and she got an iPad. Very soon she was counting to ten with Elmo, saying "Caillou throw ball", and other things that most kids don't do until after they are two years old. Now, at 24 months old, she's about 6-9 months ahead on most of her skills. That's "only" 6-9 months, but it's also about 30% ahead.
We put effort into teaching her, of course, taking her to see her favorite things (airplanes) and talking about them, talking about whatever we see in the world around us. I have to say, though, she has definitely learned from the apps she has on her iPad during car trips and chill time. Which means I have to be mindful of WHICH apps and web sites she's looking at in the next years. She will learn something from whatever she's looking at, so I'll need to pay attention to what she's learning.
The issue is that a kid should be experiencing life a little bit before they learn to distract it away with a phone? I know if my kids had smartphones that would be the end of conversations in the car and at restaurants and I happen to like talking to my kids.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Moderators, please delete this comment. My seven-year old made this comment from his iPhone and has been severely reprimanded. No access until after homework and dinner tonight.
A year or two ago I would have said I'd never buy a little a tablet or smartphone. My one year old daughter ended up at a childcare place where they use ipads, and she got an iPad. Very soon she was counting to ten with Elmo, saying "Caillou throw ball", and other things that most kids don't do until after they are two years old. Now, at 24 months old, she's about 6-9 months ahead on most of her skills. That's "only" 6-9 months, but it's also about 30% ahead.
Our kids have an iPad too, but it is locked down. Email, web browsing, the app store, are all turned off.
To even get apps to update I have to sign in and do it myself.
Nothing wrong with such a device, so long as you know how to control it.
http://bigthink.com/laurie-vaz...
A group of top cancer researchers out of the University of Sydney pored over 29-years of data to come to that conclusion. They pulled their data from the Australian National Cancer Registry because all cancer diagnoses in Australia have to be legally registered. The team compared “age and gender-specific incidence rates of 19,858 male and 14,222 females diagnosed with brain cancer between 1982 and 2012, and mobile phone usage data from 1987 to 2012,” writes lead researcher Simon Chapman in the study, published by The International Journal of Cancer Epidemiology. The cell phone data begins in 1987 because that’s when they were first widely available in Australia.
After factoring in age-specific rates of cancer diagnoses, the immense increase of cell phone use, and a 10-year timeframe to develop a diagnosis, the researchers came to a very reassuring conclusion: “We found no increase in brain cancer incidence compatible with the steep increase in mobile phone use.”
"Subjected" to Chrome OS? Honestly. I think children should be exposed to a variety of OSs and software, not living in a Windows-only or Mac-exclusive or Android-preferred or even LinuxLand home. People don't get how to understand multiple interfaces and different software and such these days.
However, with the rise of cell phones occurring after that of cancer, cancer causes cell phones.https://xkcd.com/925/
Now before I'm told how horrible a parent I am, let me explain. Like anything in life or parenting, I think it's about moderation and structure. We gave our daughter one of our older Android phones when she was about 2.5 years. We were embarking on a 5 hour flight with a toddler and a baby so yes, I was looking for distractions. I gave her a locked down phone (no dialing or data connection possible) with two educational apps and one simple drawing app. We play the apps with her and monitor her play. She can also take photos. That's it. It held her interest for a while, as did a number of other activities we brought with us on the plane, but with a limited amount of distraction available she eventually grew bored. She still has access to her phone at home now and she rarely uses it. We've taken it as a backup to many outings but find we only pull it out rarely (specifically dinner at a restaurant, close to or past bedtime, aka the witching hour).
If you give a kid a phone with the entirety of the internet and app store available with no structure, sure they'll become overwhelmed or addicted. Same thing goes for most stuff we give kids as they get older (insert car analogy). But I also think it's important to have access to the tools, connectedness, and creativity that computers and smartphones can unlock. So as my kids get older and they demonstrate they are ready, I'll unlock more functionality. But if and when I do, they can expect a lesson in how to use that new functionality safely and responsibly. If they abuse it, they lose it. I think that's about the best you can do. Maybe I'll be singing a different song in 7 years.