The Only Screen Your Kid Should Have

"Because of time's arrow, my daughter, who was once a toddler, is now a preteen. A new question thus arises: When should I let her get a smartphone? This problem isn't new to me. I have two older kids, now in their 20s. Back in the day, I bought each of them an iPod Touch-essentially, a smartphone without the phone-when they were about her age, and then the full device at around the start of high school."

"Today smartphones are as widespread as the concerns about their effects on young people's brains. Psychologists have written best-selling books about how bad phones are for kids, and many schools have banned their use. Despite all this, no one can dispute the fact that phones and phone apps have entered every aspect of contemporary life. Even Jonathan Haidt, who aims to end the phone-based childhood, floats policies that would allow for a phone-based adolescence."

"That idea had not occurred to me until my daughter brought it up. She'd been FaceTiming with a friend who had just received an Apple Watch. Now my daughter wanted one, and it didn't take long for me to acquiesce. After all, as a small device with fewer features, a smartwatch would have to do less damage than a standard smartphone. Maybe it would also do substantial good."

A toddler has become a preteen, prompting the decision about when to allow a smartphone. Older children previously received iPod Touches and later full smartphones at the start of high school when online life was less intrusive. Smartphones are now ubiquitous and controversial, with psychologists warning of harms and many schools restricting use. Phones and apps permeate daily life, and even critics propose managed adolescent phone use. The objective is to manage adoption to protect child, parent, school, and home life. A smartwatch offers limited connectivity, permitting contact while reducing social-media exposure; an Apple Watch was ordered as a compromise.

Read at The Atlantic