Get A Free Phone For Your Kid Just In Time For School – The US presidential campaign is in its final weeks, and we’re here to help you understand the stakes. In this election cycle, it’s more important than ever to provide context beyond the headlines. But in-depth reporting comes at a cost, so we have an ambition to add 5,000 new members to continue this important work.
We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Can you support our work and become a member today?
Get A Free Phone For Your Kid Just In Time For School
Allie Volpe is a senior reporter covering mental health, relationships, wellness, money, home life and work through a self-improvement lens.
Once Upon A Child Bristol
In case you didn’t already know: kids live in a technology-dominated, phone-dependent world just like the rest of us. 6-month-old babies spend more than an hour a day in front of the screen. The US Surgeon General recently went so far as to call for warning signs on social media platforms to inform parents about the effects of apps on the mental health of young people. Deciding how to introduce children to technology and what boundaries to draw around their use is no longer a matter of when, but when.
Available research on the effects of smartphones on children is somewhat mixed, which can be confusing for parents trying to make decisions about their children’s tech exposure. Studies show that 1-year-olds who spend more than four hours a day watching screens are more likely to have developmental delays and problems with communication, fine motor skills, and problem-solving at ages 2 and 4 (although only 4 percent of study participants were exposed to more than four hours of screen time a day). . According to a study of Japanese first graders, just one hour on mobile devices is associated with behavior problems and inability to focus. Constant use of devices prevents kids from getting bored and their young minds from getting lost. Frequent use of the Internet can interfere with a child’s interpersonal skills. In his new book
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt believes that a “telephone-based childhood” is to blame for the negative consequences of children’s mental health.
While these findings about adverse effects may be alarming, they do not tell the whole picture. In May 2023, the American Psychological Association’s advisory panel, reviewing the available evidence to date, found that “social media use is neither inherently beneficial nor harmful for youth.” In fact, there may be a silver lining: rather than completely sequestering and alienating young users, using technology can help teens form social bonds and explore their identities.
What Is Dyscalculia?
However, experts say there should be limits and rules for children’s use of technology. There are no clear, one-size-fits-all answers about when to give children their first phone or how much supervision they need as they grow older. Parents should make decisions based on their own values, judgments and priorities.
When it’s time to make the decision to give your child their own phone, it’s important to ask why. If it’s to quell your anxiety, you might want to reconsider, says Emily Cherkin, founder of Screentime Consulting and author of The Screentime Solution: The Solution-Free Guide to Becoming a Tech-Enjoyed Family. Most parents mean well; they want to know where their children are or to contact in an emergency. But they are more exposed to other threats on smartphones. “A parent’s job is to eliminate anxiety about what I call scary, but not dangerous,” says Cherkin. “Kidnapping is scary, but it’s not dangerous. It is so, so, so unlikely. Youth mental health and bullying are at risk.” If your “why” is really about communication, Cherkin recommends giving your child a flip phone.
Says Linda Charmaraman, senior research scientist and founder and director of the Youth, Media, and Well-Being Research Lab at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College. Their responses could range from peer pressure, a desire to connect with friends, or an interest in learning more about their interests.
But you have to weigh those considerations against how well the technology fits your family’s values, Cherkin says. Pick two or three of your most important values—like respect, responsibility, or integrity—and create screen time boundaries that match. “If you value unity and communication, and everyone at the table has a phone in their hand, that doesn’t align with your values,” says Cherkin.
8 Iconic Cell Phone Designs From The Early 2000s
Cherkin found that families with strong relationships, trust, and family relationships were more likely to find a balance of screen time that worked for them than those with hard-and-fast time limits. At the same time, it’s a good idea to set values-based rules, such as at dinnertime (so everyone can catch up) and bedtime (because you want your kids to sleep well).
Most importantly, parents should also follow these rules. “Kids hate hypocrisy,” says Cherkin. “They can smell it. Then it’s a lot harder to buy them because it’s like, ‘You told me not to do this.'” If you can’t commit to unplugging your phone completely at night, for example, make sure. to put it on the table across the room or outside the bedroom door.
While some parenting movements, such as Wait Until 8, recommend waiting until the end of eighth grade to give your child a smartphone, experts recommend using your best judgment based on your child’s personality and the aforementioned family values. Experts say that children under the age of 13 should not access social networks. In a study of youth social media use, Charmaraman found that teens ages 13 and older were more responsible, secretive, and less likely to engage in cyberbullying than users under 10.
Cheryl Ziegler, a licensed clinical child psychologist, recommends adjusting any privacy or security settings before giving away your smartphone. Go to the Parental Controls setting on your device (Apple products have many built-in features) and any apps. (For example, Snapchat’s Family Center lets parents see who their kids are talking to.) Turn off all notifications so you don’t get distracted during homework or a movie. Only download apps that you allow to use. If they want to download any additional apps, they have to ask for permission first, Ziegler says.
School Holiday Packs
It’s also important to set clear rules before your child gets their own device. Ziegler suggests adapting the model created by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on media and technology safety for children, to fit your family’s needs. You and your child must agree on privacy and security, the amount of time they are allowed to spend on the device (including during the summer), and promise to keep them informed about what they are doing on the device. These rules can also be applied when children start using family devices, says Ziegler.
There’s no hard and fast rule about how much time kids should spend on their devices. If they have school-issued laptops and prefer to study on an iPad, that means they spend most of their waking hours staring at a screen. Consider how much time kids spend in front of their devices versus other activities like hanging out with friends, homework, or extracurricular activities. “The younger the child is,” says Cherkin, “we want this number to be smaller on the screens.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screen time (other than video chatting with relatives) for children under 2 years old and one hour of quality children’s programming for children between 2 and 5 years old. Ziegler advises children ages 6 to 12 to limit screen time to no more than two hours a day. Parents should also monitor the quality of that time: Watching a movie with the family is different than scrolling through TikTok for two hours.
Keep certain rooms and times of the day phone-free. Experts agree that children should not have phones in their bedrooms at night. Devorah Hytner, author of Growing Up Social: Coming of Age in a Digital World, recommends putting phones away before school and when doing homework, too. You can also suggest that they go phone-free while talking to friends and family.
When Should I Have Another Baby? Experts Weigh In
Be open with your kids about why you’re contracting, says Ziegler. “I want to tell the kids the reason they do it, it’s going to be really hard for you to [turn off the device] because it’s so much fun and these things are designed to keep you here for a long time. maybe,” he says.
You have to understand that you don’t expect your children to be perfect and that they will mess up. Let them know you don’t want to give up
Related Post "Get A Free Phone For Your Kid Just In Time For School"