How Young is Too Young?

     Cell Phones. Everyone has them. Even little kids, as young as six years old, can have one. In 2018, it was recorded that 95% of Americans owned a mobile device of some kind. In 2022, a study found that 86% of the global population owned some sort of cell phone. So, what's the big deal with phones? Why does everyone have one? What's so great about them, anyway?

    Last year, I took a job as an assistant teacher in a class of first graders. For those who don't know, first graders consist of 6 to 7 year olds. I would always keep my phone on Do Not Disturb and tucked away in my desk while at work. However, the kids quickly found the "hiding spot" where I kept my phone and became obsessed with trying to get into it. One day, I asked them what was so special about my phone. I mean, it's just a phone, it's not like they could do anything on it, especially since there was a password. All 15 of the students immediately told me that they weren’t allowed to bring their phones to school. This, of course, made them eager to get their hands on any phone they could, since theirs were at home. I was shocked to learn that every single one of those kids already owned their own personal phone. Of course, some of them might have been bluffing, but I knew that some of them were being honest.

    I was in 6th grade when I got my first phone. Well, for a little while, I owned my sister’s old, extremely cracked iPhone 5 throughout early elementary school. It was mainly used to play games, but eventually, it was retired when glass chips started breaking off the screen. What really got me through those years without a phone was my 3DS and tablet. You can probably understand my excitement when I unwrapped my first real phone on my 12th birthday. Personally, I feel like 12 is relatively late to be getting your first phone, especially in this day and age. It was a little humiliating hanging out with friends when they all had phones and I didn’t. That was probably the reason my parents got me one in the first place. Or maybe it was because I was always begging my mom to use her phone, take it to birthday parties, or bring it to friends houses and she just got tired of it. 

    In my opinion I feel like a child should get their first phone at around 4th grade, 10 years old. However, I believe restrictions should be applied. For example, screen time limits, no social media, phone checks, etc. This allows the child to still be able to play games, text, and feel included with their peers but still have appropriate limitations until they get older. 

    So, What do you think? What age should someone get a phone? What restrictions, if any, would you enforce?