Cell phones are great, particularly the kind of cell phones we have today. In a family, as you must have realized by now, one person’s problem is the entire family’s problem. Communication is important to us as human beings because we are social creatures. Cell phones were invented to facilitate communication, and it is natural for a parent to want to be in touch with his or her child always. Cell phones enable this. However, the age you give your child a cell phone can adversely affect his or her life, as well as your own.
Why Parents Give Their Children Cell Phones
If parents could monitor their children 24/7, they would. It is an innate desire for a parent to want to protect his or her child invariably. Nonetheless, this is not always possible. Most parents are worried the moment their children are out of the scope of their protection. For instance, when they leave for school, when they go to a friend’s house, when they go to the playground when they go to the mall to shop on their own, or even when they go to a relative’s house.
Most parents feel and know that no one else cares about their children more than they do and naturally, they feel no one else can show their children the love as they do. Considering that they cannot always watch over their children, a cell phone is a good extension of their ability to watch over them wherever they are. At least then, the parent knows that the child will be able to reach them directly in case they need anything. This is perhaps the most logical reason most parents would want to give their children a cell phone.
Be that as it may, there are other reasons parents give their children cell phones. It could be so that they can connect with their friends through social media; it could be because the child has trouble making friends, so the parent, out of pity, gives the child a cell phone so that the child can at least make some friends, even if it’s through Facebook or Twitter. These are not necessarily the best reasons for giving a child a cell phone but they somewhat make sense. The worst reason parents give their children cell phones is to please them.
The Impacts of Cell Phones on Your Child
If you search the above title on any search engine, you will discover many articles that highlight the adverse effects of cell phones on your child, particularly smartphones. In my point of view, giving a child under 16years old a smartphone is just as reckless as giving them all the money they need and the freedom to move out if they please. The internet is not a place for a child to be on their own. The surface web alone is filled with so much inappropriate content for children. It is good to use apps like the family base companion app that monitors and regulates when and how your child uses their cell phone, but there is only so much that even such apps can do for you.
If you give a child below 16years a smartphone and even monitor how they use the phone, you are setting yourself up for trouble. If your child is not very smart or a computer geek, chances are that you may be safe. But if they are smart or computer savvy, you may be able to monitor their usage of the smartphone for a while, but with time, they will discover the loopholes that even you didn’t’ anticipate and they will fool you to think that you are in control while in reality, they are the ones who are indeed in control. How do you think computer hackers are born?
It is easier to monitor and manage your child while they are under 15years old. Once they cross the 15-year mark, if you haven’t yet taught them what matters and what doesn’t, you will have set yourself up for trouble. If they are spoiled by that age, redemption for them will be a challenge. Guide and condition them on how they should use cell phones while below 15years. Then when they reach sixteen, it’s okay to let them own their first smartphone, but under your rules.
Let them know why you will be monitoring how they use the phone and why some features will be disabled. Let them really understand why you are so in control. At the same time, prepare them for the cruel world ahead of them. Let them understand that the world is a cruel place and only you are one of the few people who really give a damn about them. Furthermore, take that as an opportunity to prepare them for the world as you let them know that soon they will be 18years old and they will be on their own whether both of you like it or not.
The modern-day cell phones are great because they enable us to do so many amazing things. Nevertheless, parents should be careful about when they give their children access to these double aged swords as well as how their children use them.
