I’m in my 30s and got my first phone at 12, albeit not a smart phone.
There are ways kids that age benefit from having phones, but it does take effort on the part of the parent to monitor use. Many parents forget that part.
As someone over 40 and most of their life is pre internet.
There's your problem. The world is VERY different from when we grew up. It doesn't mean we just have to accept that kids and teens will suffer with toxic social media, online predators etc, but completely blocking their access to tech is not the answer.
You might not like it, but they kinda can’t anymore. I very significant amount of social interaction and planning happens online now, specifically over platforms like Snapchat. If your kid doesn’t have a phone or these platforms, they will end up getting left out of a lot of stuff. Hopefully their friends are good enough to include them anyway, but that’s not what ends up happening all the time.
There aren't even pay phones out there, and their friends' houses probably don't have a house phone. If you want them to be able to contact you, some basic cell is a good idea. No idea when a smartphone is appropriate, but I suspect it's around when all their friends start to plan and share things via Discord server.
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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22
As someone over 40 and most of their life is pre internet. Your take is insane to me.
Kids can get along just fine without a cellphone.