When my daughter was a tween, we spent a lot of time debating with her about when she could have a cell phone. We were the "mean parents" who
made her be the last girl in her class who still didn't have a phone. Finally, on her 13th birthday, she got that long-awaited cell phone and has refused to part with it ever since.
Cell phones are a part of life for kids now. My nine-year-old has started asking when he can have a phone. "Four more years," we tell him. But it's not just cell phones kids want now: they want mini-computers that can take pictures, play games, connect to websites and show movies--in addition to the old standbys, talk and text.
My title probably asks the wrong questions. Kids are smart enough for smartphones; everybody knows that if you need to know how to work a tech device, the person to ask is a kid. But are they wise enough? That's where it gets tricky.
Kids with smartphones need to know more than basic rules about no crank calling and no mean texts. They need to know how to tell when an ad is a scam. They need to know the potential consequences of posting messages or pictures on the internet--or even circulating them via text. Features can be unlocked as kids grow in maturity.
And parents who give kids smartphones need to know how the phone works so they can set parental controls to make sure that their kids don't stray into areas where the parents don't want them. Things like data plans, location settings, and privacy settings can all be secured by parents before the kids even touch the phone.
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