An extremely controversial subject is when a person's child should be allowed to have their first cell phone. And even more so, when they should have access to cell phones in general, even if they belong to other people.
In the past, we didn't even have this kind of discussion. Many families didn't have cell phones, and suddenly they became something accessible, and everyone started to have one. So the idea of a person, even a very young person, not having a cell phone was strange.
For many parents, cell phones were harmless things, and when it comes to children, they were simply an endless source of entertainment.
You could hand a cell phone to a restless child and watch them almost magically stay entertained for hours on end, perhaps all day, without doing anything other than using it, watching videos and even playing games.
For many parents this became paradise, suddenly they no longer had to watch their children 24 hours a day, the cell phone became everyone's unofficial babysitter. Little did these people know that they were creating a future problem.
The harm a cell phone can do to a child
Everything in our lives is an investment. We invest our labor to work and receive a salary to support ourselves month after month. And in the same way, we invest time in caring for a child so that he or she can become a good adult.
If someone came up to you and asked where to invest R$ 50 thousand Maybe you had some good answers ready, but if someone asked you where you invest a good part of your time in your day, would you, as a parent, answer that it is in your child?
Because that's the reality we're talking about here. Parents give their children cell phones too early because they don't want to invest time in them, they want the devices to do that.
Interestingly, some of the problems that cell phones cause us are not so different from those that our children can suffer. For example, if you limit all of a child's games and activities to a cell phone, they will become sedentary.
But that's not even the worst part. Long-term exposure of the eyes to a screen can cause sleep disorders and even eating disorders. But the biggest concern is early internet culture.
The internet is a hostile place, where people feel empowered to come and say whatever they want to someone, no matter how insensitive, cruel or even prejudiced it may be.
Exposing a child to this opens the door to several psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and even childhood depression.
We just have to stop and think for a moment: bullying at school and constant fighting between parents at home can have psychological consequences for a child, so why would the internet, full of hostility, be any different? And in an unlimited way, too.
But then, after all, what is the right age for a child to have a cell phone?
From the age of 13, if the parents are able to give her a cell phone, it is already something plausible. It is important that the child be aware of society, participating and developing ties, and today it is undeniable that cell phones help with this.
It keeps people connected, and that's good for maintaining and nurturing contact with people. But that doesn't mean she should have unrestricted access to the device.
On the contrary, the first few years that a parent or guardian has with their young person having a cell phone are crucial. And this immediately answers a question that is often asked: are parents responsible for what their children see on the internet?
And the answer is yes. Even though it may seem impossible for some parents to monitor their son or daughter on the internet, this does not change the fact that it is their responsibility. In fact, everything that has to do with a child's social and psychological development is the responsibility of the person responsible for them.
And for this, there are several types of tricks to keep an eye on your son or daughter, from native device settings that prevent and also censor certain things, to some parental control applications, which help parents monitor what the person is doing and accessing on that cell phone.
This way, the guardian can know if the child is talking to someone inappropriate, if he or she is trying to access inappropriate content, and even if some supposed friends are doing something wrong and involving the child in it.
In short, 13 years old is the ideal time to introduce your child to the world of cell phones, and consequently the internet, but that doesn't mean that care shouldn't be taken until they are mature enough to deal with it alone.
