What is the right age to buy a child a smartphone? It’s a dilemma that many parents grapple with when they see their children accessing the internet from a young age; be it at school, with their friends, or on electronic devices around the home.
Now, a new study has revealed some eye-opening facts about device ownership among British kids.
Media regulator Ofcom says one in five toddlers in the UK own a smartphone.
That includes children as young as three or four (20 per cent), with the rate of phone ownership increasing into primary school and becoming commonplace by secondary school.
By the age of 8 to 11, 55 per cent of kids owned a mobile phone, parents told Ofcom. By the time they reach age 12, the figure jumps to 97 per cent, and 99 per cent by age 17.
Though it may seem alarming at first, it could be that many toddlers are simply using older devices, without a SIM card, passed down by siblings and parents. What do kids typically do on their phones? Most of them, 88 per cent of 3-17 year olds to be precise, watch YouTube and YouTube Kids.
Far fewer among that age bracket use other popular apps as they tend to draw in an older crowd. WhatsApp was at 55 per cent, TikTok 53 per cent, Snapchat 46 per cent, Instagram 41 per cent, and Facebook was at 34 per cent.
Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t risks associated with allowing kids access to the mobile internet. Only last week, TikTok was fined £12.7 million by the UK data watchdog for allowing underage kids to access its app, potentially exposing them to harmful content.
Earlier this year, campaigner Duncan McCann accused YouTube of viewing data of children aged 13 and under, in a breach of the UK data privacy code designed to protect children.
What’s the right age to get a smartphone?
That brings us back to the ideal time to buy a child a smartphone. The question continues to divide experts and tech industry bigwigs alike, with recommendations ranging from simple parental oversight to bans on the sale of phones to kids.
Internet Matters, an organisation designed to help parents keep children safe online, says the average age a UK child receives a phone is 10.
On the other hand, Samsung Mobile boss James Kitto recently said that he didn’t buy his daughter a smartphone until she turned 11.
An academic study from last year also revealed that there was no significant link between childhood phone ownership and kids’ wellbeing. The research was tallied from a group of 250 children in Northern California over the course of five years as they transitioned to phone ownership.
The study concluded that the age at which kids received their first phones had no meaningful impact on their grades, sleep habits or depression symptoms.
Children’s charity NSPCC, meanwhile, recommends parents and young phone owners explore the internet together, and ensure suitable boundaries are put in place. Many social apps, games and phones come with tight security controls that allow parents to monitor and restrict usage.
However, some groups have taken a harder stance against the use of phones among children. A UK-based organisation known as UsForThem has called for under-16s to be banned from using smartphones. It also wants “tobacco-style health warnings” on mobile phone packaging. This is due to fears the devices are causing children to become distracted, isolated and depressed.
