How to Introduce Smartphones to Kids Safely and Responsibly

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Fooocus 2.5.5 AI

Welcome my usual readers and new visitors to my blog. Today's topic is the era of smartphones.

We live in times where smartphones are an essential tool for us, and those who have children because it is really very difficult to avoid that children want to have access to smartphones. And here we have a great controversy.

I am going to talk to you from a personal point of view because, although I do not have children, I have had experiences as a teacher and managing the children of many people, and I am going to try to give you my point of view from that perspective.

We face the first question:

What is the age of children to allow them to have smartphones and have their own social media accounts?

Particularly, I believe that what should be done is to give the child around 10 years of age a basic phone, a phone that can only receive calls and messages.

In this way, the child will start to learn to use the phone and also to have a value of responsibility and belonging that has something that in the future gradually will be able to obtain.

And when he has the stage of adolescence, I would give him at the age of 14 a smartphone with all the functions and all that.

I think that would be the most appropriate age so that the child, the teenager, can have his account on social networks, since precisely some social networks establish a minimum age to be able to give access to children, and in some countries it is 13 years old.

I would wait a little more, not a year more, to be able to give him access to social networks, and also taking into account that many psychologists recommend that the teenager has a higher level of emotional maturity, and this generally occurs when he is 14 or 15 years old.

Of course, this is a very personal point of view and that depending on the relative is that he will be able to do this.

Fooocus 2.5.5 AI

With this, we move on to the other question:

What are the problems or the risks that can be presented by giving technology to children too soon?

Well, in reality, there are several risks.

I really am very concerned about the lack of concentration because the teenager or the child will be all the time pending of the notifications that appear on the phone, and short-time videos like those that appear on TikTok or YouTube Shorts will distract them from focusing to study, to focus on doing their homework and their school occupations.

There is also another important aspect that can create a lot of anxiety or depression for being addicted to the screens and for comparing yourself with others, with other teenagers or other people who see on the networks who have an ideal life, and this can bring problems.

Another problem is also that the child will have less real interaction in the real world because he will get used to socialize through the smartphone.

Then this can make you, if you use this excessively, get used to the smartphone and do not want to interact or interact less in real life, and we are going to have an isolated child.

And of course, there is always the risk that the child share private personal data such as his location or the place where he lives, and this will expose him to different things, such as scams, perverts, and above all the possibility that someone will come to steal the child's house, that there are always people who dedicate themselves to that kind of thing and they have children as victims to take ownership of their belongings or to steal the children.

There are many dangers in that sense. Then you have to be quite careful.

I think that if it can be done or if we can establish a plan to handle all this, as I mentioned earlier, start by giving him a basic phone that only can give him to receive calls and send messages, and you can also establish parental controls that this would be part of the plan to go step by step giving him access to the child to the smartphone.

Fooocus 2.5.5 AI

Use tools like Family Link from Google that establishes a supervision link with the parents to have access to what the child does, and establish clear rules for the child.

For example, put areas in which he will not be able to have access to the tablet or the phone, for example, when you are eating at the table, when you are in your room at night, or when you are with your family, childrens will not have access to the smartphone.

Then this establishes a balance.

Also, to talk to him about the digital fingerprints. Tell them, explain to them what they upload on social networks that remains forever.

They must be very careful with the information that they publish and spread.

Talk to them about cyberbullying, about what is online harassment, ok, and what they should do and how to report this, and educate them right, especially that they should not talk with strangers online.

And that before any irregular situation that they find, talk immediately with their parents or with an adult that is known of them, that will help them in case they do not have their parents, their teacher, or the director of the school.

I think because using all these methods, you can really solve this of giving access to children to smartphones.

From my point of view, I think that is the best way to address this topic so delicate and so complicated, and especially the best way to not cut children's freedom and make them understand the benefits and risks, and above all, have prepared a child that is intelligent and that will be the future of the world and that will continue to advance at the pace of these new times.

Thank you for your attention.

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