Mental health concerns. Exposure to pornography. Addiction. Loneliness. Bullying. Adolescents’ use of smartphones has been blamed for all manner of societal ills. For parents, the stakes feel impossibly high. Get your child a smartphone and risk opening Pandora’s box. Hold off and risk ostracism from their smartphone-toting peers.
So when to take the plunge? What’s the right age to get your child a smartphone?
As a psychologist studying the role of digital technology in youth mental health and author of the parenting newsletter Techno Sapiens, I find this is one of the most common questions I get from parents.
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So here’s the bad news: there is no one “right” age.
But the good news? We can look to the research to make the “right” decision for your child, and to help you feel more confident in your decision-making.
Let’s start with the basics. When your 12-year-old laments that every other kid in their grade has a smartphone, are they correct? According to nationally representative data from Common Sense Media, 42 percent of 10-year-olds report having their own smartphone. By age 12, that number increases to 71 percent, and by 14, it’s 91 percent. Of course, these numbers vary across different communities and settings, but these are the averages.
These numbers can tell us, broadly, the age at which other families are giving smartphones to their children, but they cannot tell us what age is best to do so. To really answer that question, we would need a specific type of research study that involved a large group of children. We would randomly assign some of them to get smartphones at age 10, some at age 11, some at 12, and so on. We would then follow them over time to see how they develop emotionally, cognitively and socially. Years later we could compare, for example, the kids who got phones at 12 versus those who got phones at 17.
There are a few reasons this study would not work in the real world. The first is the need for random assignment. Randomly assigning kids to get phones at different ages would allow us to determine whether any differences in outcomes were related to the phones. This is unlikely to happen: Few families would agree to have the smartphone decision determined by random chance.
Of course, we can simply compare kids who got phones at age 12 with those who got phones at age 17, but without random assignment, it’s very possible that the kids getting phones at age 12 were already different from those getting phones at 17. Maybe they came from different family situations or economic backgrounds. Maybe they differed in their social or emotional maturity. These challenges may be the reason why current research findings have been mixed. While some studies suggest that earlier smartphone acquisition negatively affects future well-being, others find no impacts at all.
Even if we were able to pull off this type of study, there would be another problem: like all people, kids are very different from one another. Twelve-year-olds vary considerably in their needs and preferences, histories, emotional well-being and social skills. Even if a study were to determine a single, optimal age for kids to get smartphones, this would reflect an average. There would still be many kids for whom that “optimal” age was not the right one.
So how can you determine when to get your child a smartphone? Here are some considerations.
Why do they (and you) want a smartphone?
Digital technology plays a key role in adolescents’ social lives: 69 percent of teens say their smartphones make it easier for them to pursue hobbies and interests, and 80 percent say that social media (typically accessed via a smartphone) makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives. When a young person asks for a smartphone, the motivation may be that everyone else has one, but the desire also might reflect a legitimate experience of missing out on social connection. If all your friends are making plans to hang out over text message, and you’re not in the group chat, you really are left out. There also may be safety or convenience reasons for wanting your child to have a phone; maybe they’re walking to school or you need to coordinate pickups from soccer practices or different households.
At the same time, smartphones come with risks. We know that when phones are present they can distract teens from academic work, interrupt in-person social interactions, and interfere with sleep. We also know that smartphones offer an in-your-pocket portal to everything the on the Internet—some of which we’d rather they not see.
So the best device for your child might actually be the simplest one that meets your needs. You may find that a “dumber” device—whether it’s a basic flip phone, a kid-friendly smartphone or a smartwatch—gets the job done just fine. Gradually introducing new tech gives you more opportunities to teach them about appropriate use: you might slowly progress from a shared family iPad to a basic mobile phone to a smartphone with strict parental controls to, eventually, a smartphone with access to social media and other apps.
It’s worth noting, too, that it can be a lot easier for parents to delay kids’ smartphone acquisition when other families are following the same path. This is why organizations like Wait Until 8th, which aim to mobilize communities to delay giving kids smartphones, have gained traction in recent years.
Are they ready for a smartphone?
“Ready” is a tricky word when it comes to smartphones. Is any child ever truly readyfor a smartphone? Is any adult ready to navigate one of the most powerful technologies of our time without occasional mishaps and challenges? Determining whether your child is ready for a smartphone means recognizing their unique strengths and vulnerabilities, reflecting on their patterns of behavior, and preparing for a major milestone that will require a lot of scaffolding on your part, not to mention some inevitable hiccups.
Research consistently demonstrates that the ways in which children respond to technologies are highly individualized to both the child and the specifics of the technology they’re using (a phenomenon called “differential susceptibility to media effects”). If your child is impulsive, struggling to fit in socially, or emotionally reactive, these issues may be amplified by a smartphone. If they’re responsible, show good judgment and generally follow the rules you’ve set, the smartphone may be a nonissue. Their prior experiences with technology (like tablets or other screens) can serve as a clue to how they’ll respond.
Whatever age you choose, you can set yourself up for success. Talk with your child about smartphones early and often. Introduce new tech gradually. Work together with them to set expectations and boundaries around use. Though there is no one “right” age for a smartphone, there can be a right time for your family. Trust yourself to know when that might be.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.