[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you asked adults about their childhood they would probably tell you how they would go outside and play hockey in the street with the neighborhood kids or go over to a friends house to play in a treehouse. My dad tells me all kinds of stories like this, even some crazier ones like when he got sprayed by a skunk when he was outside walking his dog, or when he rode his big wheel down a slide and got the wind knocked out of himself.

But if you asked current kids, 20 years from today about what their childhood was like they might tell you about playing video games, always being connected to their friends over social media, or their highest snap streaks. Kids now are becoming less physically active and losing important conversation skills because of technology. The average age for getting a smartphone was 12 in 2012, but now it’s down to age 10 in 2016.

But are kids really ready for a phone at age 10?

Are 10 Year Olds Responsible?

Kids may have heard their teachers at school talk about how anything posted on the internet can always be retrieved or found so you must think before you post, but not everyone takes this advice seriously. If your kid sees cyber bullying or is the victim of it are they really able to handle it at the age of 10? Will they do the right thing and report it? The older they are, the better they are at handling tough situations that happen online.  Cyber Bullying Hotline says, “81% of kids say that bullying online is easier to get away with.”

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Kids find it easier to interact with people who they don’t actually meet face to face.[/perfectpullquote]

Social media is a dangerous for everyone, especially kids who haven’t had much experience with technology and the internet and it’s effects if it is not used correctly. Young 10 year olds aren’t ready for this kind of power.

Not all adults have learned the correct way to use phones and social media either. Some text and drive, putting others at risk and others say dumb things online that they don’t realize can hurt someone else. These adults had longer to mature, yet they can’t even use a phone correctly.

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Kids who lose things all the time are not ready for an expensive piece of technology to be put in their pocket. The older they are, the more responsible they will become. When they are 10 (5th grade), they have cubbies or lockers that don’t have locks on them. These are not secure places to have an expensive piece of technology to be stored all day. 10 year olds who are just experiencing responsibility and starting to mature do not need a phone that will just get broken, cracked, or lost.

Are Kids too Addicted?

In a poll done by Common Sense Media, they surveyed kids and parents and found that 50% of the kids admitted to being addicted to their phone, but the parents thought that 66% of kids used their phone too much. There are so many games that kids can put on their phones so becoming addicted to a phone isn’t a hard feat to accomplish. 

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The average age for getting a smartphone was 12 in 2012, but now it’s down to age 10 in 2016.[/perfectpullquote]

A child surveyed by an Atlantic reporter when asked about iPhones and her generation being so attached said, “We didn’t have a choice to know any life without iPads or iPhones. I think we like our phones more than we like actual people.”

Phones are so deep-rooted in society for kids today that they would struggle and feel lost without them. A CNN video says, “Internet addiction is viewed as a public health threat in other parts of the world.” The United States does not recognize it as a disorder yet.

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Even in school, devices are becoming more and more important to the learning process but they are also distracting kids from learning. Thomas Rodebaugh is a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that “constant pings of texts and Facebook notifications can sometimes distract students, pulling them away from their face-to-face interactions and into the virtual world of digital communication.” These are college kids who can not always focus when their phone is with them and telling them they have a text. Now imagine a 10 year old, 5th grader, at school with something that distracts them from learning. As soon as that phone goes off they will want to know who texted them and want to respond.

Kids find it easier to interact with people who they don’t actually meet face to face, instead preferring to talk to others over text, or other messaging apps. Instead of going through the process of meeting someone new and making conversation and laughing with each other, they could be neighbors who will never meet in person and make a true connection. Tamyra Pierce, a journalism professor at California State University, Fresno said in an Atlantic post: “If we are glued to technology 24/7, it’s going to have an effect on social skills-it’s just natural.”

Kids should learn social skills when they are young so they have those skills throughout their lives. Instead if they are stuck to a screen as a 10 year old they are missing out on those essential skills.

When is the Right Age for a Phone?

As kids move into middle and high school they start to become more involved with extracurricular sports or clubs. At this age, most kids have phones and have learned the correct way to use them. Kids will need to organize rides to and from activities with either mom and dad or a friend and will need a way to contact people. When they are 10 their parents go everywhere with them.

Also as kids become more involved in these extracurricular activities many of the notifications, scheduling and last minute changes to any of these activities are done via social media applications on student’s phones. Staying up to date and organized is an important part of being a member of these groups. Technology via phones is the way these kids stay connected with each other.

Kids at age 10 are too young for a cell phone because they are not mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes along with it. As they get older and enter middle school it becomes more of a necessity for communicating with their parents about activities for rides and schedule changes. As they continue to grow up phones and technology are how they communicate with their friends and peers.

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