"So far, it's been going well, and he seems to be handling it responsibly. As a parenting and health writer, I've spent way too much time reporting on the extensive mental health concerns around phone use. Therefore, I always thought I would be the very last person to ever buy my kid a phone, let alone at 11 years old. I was sure my kid would be starting high school phone-free"
"I know recent studies show protecting our kids' growing minds is our top priority as parents, and research shows that kids who use smartphones have poorer mental health outcomes. I also know about all the warnings - from social media's impact on self-esteem to the effects of blue light on sleep. Along the way, though, amid all the convincing research, horror stories, and warnings, I forgot one essential parenting lesson: I am the expert on my own child, and every child is different."
A parent learned about cellphone risks and initially refused to buy a phone, but gave their child a phone at 11, and the child has handled it responsibly. The parent is highly aware of mental health research linking smartphone use to poorer outcomes and knows warnings about social media and blue light. The parent realized that each child is different and that parental knowledge of the child should guide timing. The child began asking at age nine and used workarounds like an iPad, Messenger Kids, supervised use of a parent's phone, and texting parents to coordinate in-person hangouts. The family sometimes struggled when the child relied on friends' phones while playing outside.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]