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We live in a world full of technology and, for many of us, our children understand it better than we do. Parents may feel pressured by their children to provide them with a cell phone at an early age, but aren't sure when children are actually ready for this responsibility.

When is the right time for your child to get their first cell phone?

In short, there is no good answer to that question. Many parents will begin to think about providing their child with a phone during the middle school years, when kids are more likely to be involved in after school activities and more likely to be home alone. According to a Nielsen report released in February 2017, approximately 45 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 10-12 had their own smartphone with a service plan.

Consider the Benefits

The ability to communicate in emergency situations. Many families don't have home phones and public pay phones are a thing of the past.

Opportunities for social contact with peers - texting, use of social media and (less likely) actually talking on the phone.

Ability to gain immediate knowledge for personal or academic use - even in elementary school it's hard to do school work without electronic access to apps, web research and Google docs.

Entertainment - What kid doesn't want to spend hours watching people do silly things on YouTube?

Explore the Risks
Is your child responsible enough to carry a cell phone? If they often can't find their shoes or homework, should you really provide them with an expensive phone?

What about the impact on health? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released information about exposure to radiation from cell phone usage. Risks of media in general include obesity (due to sedentary screen time), decreased sleep and distractibility contributing to poorer academic performance (because YouTube is more interesting than math).

What can go wrong socially? Thinking about your child's maturity level and ability to recognize social cues is important.

Do they understand that repeatedly texting a friend with no response from the friend could be considered annoying?

Are they aware that anything they post on social media accounts can be used against them in the future (see many examples from athletes, politicians and celebrities who thought their past was behind them)?

Research has suggested that children in the third through fifth grade who owned a cell phone were particularly vulnerable to cyberbullying and that they had been cyberbullies themselves.

According to the AAP it is estimated that 12 percent of 10-19 year old youth have sent a sexual photo to someone else.

The Bottom Line
In general, setting guidelines and limits up front is their (and our) best opportunity for success. Here are some ideas:

Limit the amount of time spent on the phone.

Experts suggest no screens for at least one hour before bedtime, so consider having your child turn in their phone in the evening. Remove your child's phone from their room at night so the temptation of a late night "hello" or, worse, with friends, is not there.

Create a distraction-free homework time where cell phones are put away.

Consider "phone free" meals or family times during the day (yes, that means you too, parents!) to promote communication and relationship building.

Require children provide parents with cell phone, email and social media passwords.

Do random checks of text messages and other phone content.

Consider using parental controls on the phone and apps.

Be your child's social media friend to keep tabs on what they are posting.

Educate yourself on the latest apps.

Be honest and let them know you will be holding them accountable from the beginning so that there are no surprises.

Communicate openly with your child about the risks of cell phone usage.

Help them understand safe websites, recognize cyberbullying and the risks of chat rooms and communication with "friends" you've never met before.

Promote open communication and questions by actively listening, withholding judgement and corrections and allowing them autonomy to problem solve when appropriate.

Consider developing a Family Media Use Plan. Use the tool www.HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan as a starting point.

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Children and Cell Phones: Weighing the Risks and Benefits

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We live in a world full of technology and, for many of us, our children understand it better than we do. Parents may feel pressured by their children to provide them with a cell phone at an early age, but aren't sure when children are actually ready for this responsibility.

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Navigating life in the digital age can be confusing. While we love to stay connected to friends and family and stay up-to-date on the latest headlines, it can sometimes be too much of a good thing. When you're always online or plugged in, you run the risk of missing out on important things happening in your physical space - not to mention the built-up stress from being overwhelmed with bad news and the newly termed habit of doomscrolling.

But if you're a parent, chances are your kids are scrambling to get online. At school, they're probably privy to a whole bunch of technological advances in the classroom and the social pressure of getting online in order to fit in. If your kids are asking for a smartphone, how do you know if they're ready, and how can you prepare them for the World Wide Web and all of its dangers?

Pediatrician David Hornick, MD, shares how you can tell if your child is ready for a smartphone, along with tips to make introducing a smartphone easier.

At what age should your child get a phone?

In today's world, Dr. Hornick says it's acceptable to buy your child a smartphone between 12 and 14 years of age. But those aren't magic numbers; your child's maturity is what matters.

"Phones are fun, but they're a tool we use for certain activities and certain amounts of information and communication," says Dr. Hornick. "If your child is spending a lot of time outside of the home - like if they're on a team for school or they have regular after-school lessons - and they're becoming more independent, a smartphone might be a good idea."

For kids younger than 12, or kids that spend a lot of time at home and aren't quite as independent, a regular phone that just allows your child to call or text might be the best way to go until they're older or getting out of the house more often. For one, it's good to have if there's ever an emergency or they need to reach you. But younger kids also have less of a filter.

"The frontal part of our brains, the prefrontal cortex, acts as a filter and helps us rationalize decisions," explains Dr. Hornick. "When the impulsive part of our brain says, 'You should send Johnny a nasty message,' the prefrontal cortex says, 'No, that's not a nice thing to do.' The younger you are, the less effective that part of the brain is."

In fact, our prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until we're in our 20s, and that's why teens can do the most irrational things. If your child has a hard time processing the dangers or risks of having a smartphone and if they're unable to follow the rules you put in place, they may not be ready.

Pros and cons of a phone for kids

There are two sides to every coin. That's true for most big life decisions, and that's especially true when deciding whether or not to let your kid have a smartphone. Here's a breakdown of the bigger pros and cons of giving your kid a smartphone.

Smartphones are a tool for research and connectivity

Like most technological advances, smartphones are designed to improve your connectivity to the world and provide unlimited access to information at the press of a button. If your kid has steady access to the internet at home and school, and they're following the rules when utilizing those tools, the chances of them using a smartphone effectively are high.

But, Dr. Hornick says, using a smartphone for research isn't a selling point for most kids. "Surfing the internet, getting information on things, I think that's a vanishingly small percentage of what they're going to use their phone for," he notes. Instead, kids are more interested in using their smartphones to fit in with their friends, connect with others online and for entertainment.

Using a smartphone promotes independence

Just like driving a car for the first time or being dropped off at a friend's house or social event, having a smartphone can boost your kid's ability to feel empowered and independent. The more time they spend outside the home, the more inclined they'll be to take matters into their own hands.

"If they have that connection and ability to contact their parents or friends, that's going to give them some confidence about being on their own," says Dr. Hornick. "It will help mature them and turn them into being more responsible about themselves and their relationships with their parents if they're given the tools to maximize on those opportunities."

Getting hurt online is inevitable and hard to handle

The internet is vast, and with it comes a variety of social media platforms that can be toxic when used to harm others. Cyberbullying is particularly problematic among younger smartphone users. It's important to talk to your kid ahead of time about not participating in such negative behaviors, as well as to prepare them for how to handle it when it happens to them. Other dangers of social media include:

Online predators.

Sharing too much information.

False marketing.

Dangerous viral trends.

"The potential for abuse and the potential for bullying and doing other inappropriate things is very high," stresses Dr. Hornick. "But there are a lot of social pressures for not joining social media if you're entering high school or even the latter part of middle school. Part of joining the club is belonging to platforms like Instagram and Snapchat."

It can be difficult to put the phone down

Like a shiny new toy, a smartphone has infinite capabilities. In one tiny device, you have the ability to stream videos, watch movies, play games, connect with friends and read all kinds of material. If left unchecked, becoming dependent on the technology can become a real issue that interferes with everyday life. "Becoming dependent on any technology can be fraught with problems," says Dr. Hornick.

Tips for parents who want to let their kids have their own phone

If you've weighed your options and have decided to go the smartphone route, here are a few tips to help your child benefit the most from it.

Limit your child's access

The major control you have in this situation is setting limits on how your child can use their smartphone. Parental controls can be put in place to limit certain websites or social media platforms. At most, Dr. Hornick suggests allowing one or two social media accounts until your child has proven they can use them effectively and in a positive way. "When you're on four or five different platforms, it can get too engrossing and way too much for them to handle," he cautions.

Create phone-free zones

Putting time limits in place is also important: You want to make sure the phone is turned off at bedtime, or at the least, plugged in outside of their bedroom. Although your kid might fight to use their phone as an alarm, you should use a different alarm instead because using a phone before bed can actually interfere with your ability to sleep.

You can also limit the amount of time they spend on their phones overall, as well as time allowed on specific apps, by setting up screen time limits with parental controls. You might also consider creating phone-free zones where using the phone by anyone (including you) is frowned upon. A phone-free zone could be enacted during meals, at family get-togethers or during special events. The idea is to maximize your child's participation in the important activity that's happening.

"It's important for children to have a relationship with their parents that involves talking and sharing time together," says Dr. Hornick. "Phones take away from the intimacy and time you spend together, and sometimes, parents are just as guilty in many cases as children for being on their phones too often."

Establish a contract

By creating a contract together on rules and expectations for a smartphone in advance, you and your child are holding each other accountable for the exciting new journey ahead. Both you and your child should sign this contract, and it should be visible at all times. Maybe even hang it on the fridge. This also allows your rules and expectations to be particularly clear and defined so there won't be any mix-ups if things ever go sideways. And if you can't both agree on how a smartphone will be used, then they're not ready.

"Making sure you're sitting down and ensuring your child understands these things will help you make that decision as to whether your child can have a smartphone or not," says Dr. Hornick.

Don't overstep

Putting healthy boundaries in place is important, but part of having a smartphone is trusting your child to respect the boundaries and expectations you've both decided on together. As a parent, you might have every right to go through their phone at any point - after all, you probably float the bill and if they're not doing anything wrong, they probably don't have anything to hide.

But if you don't have a good relationship with your kid and they don't regularly share details of their social life with you on a daily basis, looking through their phone will feel like a huge invasion of privacy. Dr. Hornick suggests that kids under 15 or 16 need that extra supervision to allow their parents to help them make decisions and to remedy their mistakes. But kids older than 16 may need a little more freedom because with maturity comes trust.

"If you have a good relationship with your child and you talk about the things they're doing with their phone and their friends, then it might be fine to look through their phone," advises Dr. Hornick. "When they get to be 16, 17 or 18, there are some privacy issues where it may not be appropriate for parents to read some of those things."

Reinforce 'stranger danger' and the risks of 'sexting'

Use this opportunity to bring back those conversations you had with your kid earlier in life about the dangers of strangers and alerting someone when something goes wrong or if someone makes them feel uncomfortable. They might already be familiar with the idea of sexting, but it's important to check in with them and let them know that it's never OK to send explicit texts or pictures of themselves to friends or people they don't know online. This may be more of an issue with younger kids than older ones, but it's still an important issue to address either way.

"Just like you don't talk to strangers and get into their car, there are things that can happen in the same way with strangers online. The problem is, strangers online have methods where they can get you to do stuff that you don't really want to do or don't do by mistake," Dr. Hornick adds.

Making mistakes online are teachable moments

We've all heard the adage: What happens online stays online forever. But if mistakes happen even after you speak to your kids about what's acceptable behavior and how best to use their smartphone, it's not the end of the world. What's most important is that you treat each mistake on a case-by-case basis as an opportunity to reinforce the limits you've put in place and that you support them through those lessons by being there for them.

"You're exposing them to something that's very addictive, and when they don't have the ability to control themselves, they can get themselves into trouble," says Dr. Hornick. "Parents have to be on top of things and they have to be willing to mitigate situations as they happen."

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Experts say it's acceptable to get your child a smartphone when they're at least 12 to 14 years old, but there are still many factors to consider. Here's how to prepare for the big change.

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Age that kids acquire mobile phones not linked to well-being, says Stanford Medicine study

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Stanford Medicine researchers did not find a connection between the age children acquired their first cell phone and their sleep patterns, depression symptoms or grades.

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Take a look at this photo. Remind you of anyone? Common Sense Media says that 43% of kids 8 to 12 now own a smartphone. Is that a good thing? Many young people tell TIME for Kids that smartphones help them stay in touch with their families.

But some experts advise caution. "Young kids are not particularly well-equipped to regulate their smartphone use," Julia Storm says. She's a digital-media wellness educator. Too much time on a device can affect kids' health and well-being. Should kids have smartphones? TFK asked some. Here's what they had to say.

COURTESY LAURA GAROFALO
John Garofalo, 11 Scarsdale, New York
There are a few reasons that kids should have smartphones. First, phones allow parents to get in touch with their kids easily. Parents can see their kids' location and pick them up if there's an emergency. Second is education. An app like Duolingo helps kids learn Spanish and other languages. YouTube can also be a learning tool when it's used appropriately. Finally, smartphones help kids communicate with friends. If you move away, you can still stay in touch. This happened to me when I changed schools. Now I can talk to my old friends while I make new ones at my new school.

COURTESY AIKO YANO
Yume Yano, 10 Foster City, California
Smartphones can cause addiction. A study by Baylor University found that college students spend about nine hours a day on their phones! Children are also vulnerable to addiction, because they're not disciplined enough to set limits. They can lose sight of their interests, dreams, and schoolwork. Studies show that smartphone use can cause anxiety, harm relationships, and even damage kids' eyesight. I'm not saying that kids should never have electronic devices. But they should also go outside, make art, and spend time with family. Why waste time on a screen?

COURTESY CYRA HUSSAIN
Alina Hussain, 10 Winfield, Illinois
My opinion is that you can have a smartphone, but too much time on it isn't good. Smartphones can provide entertainment, which we need. But this can be addicting. Watching videos online isn't the best use of your time. With effort, we're capable of amazing things. YouTube won't really help you achieve them. And looking at a screen for too long isn't good for your vision. But if there's an emergency, a smartphone lets you call your parents or the authorities. If you need to remember something, you can make a note. These are reasons that kids should have phones.

COURTESY EDUARDO DIEPPA III
Alejandro Dieppa, 10 Miami, Florida
I think kids should not own smartphones. Constantly being exposed to blue light from screens could be bad for their eyes. Smartphones can also distract them from school. And studies say that teens and young adults who spend the most time on social media are more often depressed than those who spend the least time on them. This might happen to kids, too. What about safety? Well, children should always be with adults, so safety is not part of it. With all the risks to schoolwork, health, and happiness, it's not worth it for kids to have smartphones.

COURTESY MELISSA EASTON
Logan Easton, 10 Mount Albert, Ontario, Canada
There are many good reasons that kids should have smartphones. The most important one is emergencies. Kids can call for help. Or parents can track kids by phone. Another reason is that kids can talk to their friends and family when they are feeling stressed. Or they can ask a friend to come over. And then there's the remedy for boredom: Kids could use their phones for games and other entertainment. Using smartphones lets us stay safe, communicate with friends, and have fun. Why wouldn't we want kids to have them?

COURTESY ANNETTE MCCANN
Emily McCann, 9 Pelham, New York
There are many reasons that kids do not need smartphones. First, they could get calls from people they don't know and get tricked into doing things they are not supposed to do. Some apps could leak kids' personal information. Kids might also be hurt by a mean comment online. They might not want to spend time with family and friends. And with a phone in their hands, they might not be aware of their surroundings. For example, when crossing a street. Phones can distract you from school, sports, clubs, and homework.
The Next Debate! Do kids need homework? Email your opinion to tfkeditors@time.com by December 30. Your response might be featured in an upcoming issue. *Submissions have been edited only for length and clarity. They are not intended to reflect the views of TIME for Kids. Ages are accurate as of the time of submission.

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Take a look at this photo. Remind you of anyone? Common Sense Media says that 43% of kids 8 to 12 now own a smartphone. Is that a good thing? Many young people tell TIME for Kids that smartphones help...

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Should kids have cell phones? Pros and cons

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Pros and cons of cell phones for kids development. What impact may smartphones have on them? Should parents buy mobile phones for their children? When?

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By the time they're toddlers, most children are excited about phones. They know how to play games, watch videos, take pictures, and Facetime their grandparents. In idle moments they beg for - or grab for - mom or dad's phone.

But when are kids old enough - and responsible enough - to have their own phone? And what should they be able to do with it?

"The question has flipped from when to get your kid a phone, to how do you make it so the introduction of the phone is in line with their developmental stage?" explains Dave Anderson, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute. "It may be helpful for a fourth grader to have a phone to be in touch with you when they need to be picked up or are on a sleepover, but most parents don't want their late elementary or early middle school kids diving into the internet and social media apps."

Pressure on parents

By the time kids are in middle school, the pressure from kids can be intense, and parents worry that their child will feel isolated if other kids have phones and they don't. According to Common Sense Media, 42 percent of kids have a phone by age 10. By age 12, it's 71 percent. By 14, it's 91 percent.

Max Stossel, the founder and CEO of Social Awakening, a group that promotes healthy use of technology and social media, recommends that parents hold the line on giving kids smartphones until at least eighth grade. A parent group called Wait Until 8th aims to help parents in a school community band together by taking a pledge that they won't give their kids smartphones until they're reached eighth grade. The parents who sign this pledge are put in touch with one another for support.

One strategy to avoid the risky and addictive features of smart phones, Stossel notes, is to start kids off on a phone that can't be used for social media, gaming, or surfing the web. A Gabb Phone, for instance, can be used for calling and texting. It also has a camera, calendar, FM radio, and GPS, so it enables you to monitor where your child is. But there is no app store, picture messages or group texts.

Smartphones themselves also offer parents the ability to use the phone's controls to set limits. "This is where cell phone companies have matured in the past couple years," notes Dr. Anderson. "Parents can set safeguards on what apps can be downloaded onto the phone."

Smartphones allow you to limit not only apps kids have access to, but the types of movies and TV shows they can watch. And you can set time limits on things like gaming, entertainment, and social media, and keep tabs on what they're doing during screen time. (For details on how to set limits on smart phones, check out this piece in Consumer Reports.)

The most potentially dangerous elements of this are social media and the unfiltered internet. Stossel recalls a colleague who when speaking to groups of students, would ask for a volunteer to come up and show the class how to get around a school's firewall. Each time a student would do so easily, explaining which apps to use to reach blocked websites.

"So the kids are always going to be a step ahead of their parents," Stossel adds. "And trying to monitor everything they have access to can be a full-time job."

He recommends the parental control tool Bark, which monitors a child's activity on social networks, YouTube, email and text messages. It filters for signs of harmful content, including sexual material, threats of violence, depression, suicidal ideation, and bullying. Parents get email and text alerts if there is something concerning in the child's online activity. It can also be used to limit screen time and to block individual websites.

Screen Time is another tool that allows you to set time limits on daily screen time, block out periods when screens are not to be used, and includes categories of sites and individual URLS.

Jerry Bubrick, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, says he is often asked what's the right age to give a kid a phone. "I tell parents that it's not so much about a particular age as it is about a kid's social awareness and understanding of what the technology means," Dr. Bubrick explains. When you're considering whether to get a phone, and how much kids should be allowed to do on it, he recommends considering these issues:

How often does your child lose things, especially expensive things? If you tell them something is extra important, do they take special care of it, or leave it on the bus after a few days?

How well does your child handle money? Will they be in the middle of a game and impulsively buy more lives without considering their cost?

How savvy is your child about technology? Do they truly understand that future college admissions staff, employers, and colleagues could conceivably see anything they post now?

How well does your child do with limits to screen time? If they are constantly glued to the computer or game console, they will probably have difficulty putting down the phone as well.

The constant stimulation cell phones can provide can be especially distracting for kids with ADHD. "Phones are made to be as reinforcing as possible," explains Dr. Anderson. "If you're not getting an email, you're getting a social media update, or you're checking a news feed, or you're checking a sports score."

Children with ADHD find it more difficult to resist all that stimulation, and to stay tuned in to activities that are less reinforcing but more important, like homework or dinner table conversation.

Their impulsivity could also make them more likely to post or send something they may regret later on. In a world where everything you create is recorded in cyberspace, they are at risk for making long-lasting mistakes.

If you're ready to take the plunge

If you're getting your child a phone, experts recommend setting clear guidelines in a conversation before they receive the device. Here are some sample rules that parents can apply to their kids' cell phone use:

Agree on limits to how much money is available to cover the data plan and any game or app expenses.

Get them a good case, and determine what the consequences will be if the phone is lost or broken. Will it be replaced? And, if so, who will pay for it?

Specify times of the day when using the phone is not allowed, such as late at night or during family activities.

When your kids start using social media sites, monitor them and make them aware that you are doing so.

While you may choose to enforce different rules, make sure they are clear from the very beginning, the experts say, and establish consequences if these guidelines are not followed.

"You're training your kids to make good decisions over time," explains Dr. Bubrick, "so that eventually, when they leave you, you can trust that they will make those good decisions on their own."

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When Should You Get Your Kid a Phone? - Child Mind Institute

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What age should a child get a phone? Child Mind Institute explains it's not always about age when it comes to phones for kids. It's more about maturity.

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When you decide your kid is ready for a cell phone, here are some tools to help you think about setting limits, keeping them safe, and teaching them how to use their phones responsibly.

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Children and cellphones: Rules that work - Today’s Parent

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What parents need to teach their cellphone-weilding tweens.

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Experts see pros and cons to allowing cellphones in class

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Banning cellphones may help protect classroom focus, but school districts need to stay mindful of students' sense of connection, experts say.

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Cell phones have their pros and cons and have affected our generation in plenty of ways. Some pros include the advancement of our society and the development of new ideas. Some cons include how it can cause you to procrastinate and be lazy. The different pros are that it keeps us in contact with people…

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The longer I am a mother, the more I find myself reflecting on my childhood and how it compares and contrasts with my daughters' lives.

So much is the same: picky eaters, feet that grow out of new shoes too fast, tears spilled over math homework and talks about who said what to whom on the playground.

But there is one thing that makes everything about being a kid so different today: cellphones.

Phones have changed how kids interact

When I was in third grade, about 1992, my small, private school in Denver had one big hulk of a computer that we wheeled around the whole building for each classroom to use.

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!

Today, kids as young as 8 (or less) have social media accounts on their own smartphones, where they spend hours every day living entire lives in a 4x7 inch screen. Incessantly scrolling, chatting and comparing.

I get why parents want their kids to have phones: mainly to stay in touch. I also get that screen time for kids and teens means free time for us. When we are constantly being emailed and texted, when the demands to do so many things professionally and for our kids are at an all-time high, when we want a minute to scroll mindlessly as we descend down the rabbit hole that is Pinterest (or pick your poison), cellphones and tablets provide momentary respite from our overbooked days.

And there's nothing new about warning of the dangers of cellphones for kids (or for us). But phones are so ubiquitous that we read the bad news about the latest study, feel guilty and quickly move on.

I want to remind you why we should be thinking, and talking, about our kids' cellphone use.

Phones are everywhere: 95% of teens say they have access to a cellphone, and 58% of teens report using TikTok daily, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey.

With that many kids online, that much of the time, our children are more exposed than ever to dangers they're not ready to guard themselves against: stolen identities, pornography, pedophilia, the list goes on.

More from Carli Pierson on parenting: My 8-year-old daughter got her first sleepover invite. There's no way she's going.

There's also the issue of how phones and social media make kids feel about themselves. In " The Conquest of Happiness," Bertrand Russell wrote: "The habit of thinking in terms of comparison is a fatal one."

But that's what social media is - one big social comparison. Who has a better body? Who has more money? Who has a more interesting life? More friends? More likes?

For teens and preteens with all the additional difficulties that accompany those years, that sounds like a heavy burden. And it is: Teen suicide rates are rising, and while social media isn't the only factor, in some cases we know it's a contributor.

Should kids be allowed to have phones?

I have other questions that the research doesn't answer.

What is smartphone use doing to kids' ability to be creative? How will that affect their capacity to deal with the parade of letdowns and monotony that is such a integral part of human existence? When our children grow up, will they be able to handle not being entertained? Will they be able to carry a conversation?

Harvey Weinstein case and #MeToo: Why was his conviction for sexual crimes overturned? Sometimes the courts get things wrong.

Phones and kids should be an ongoing conversation in our homes. We should be talking about the dangers of addiction. We need to teach them that obsessing over other people's lives, or comparing themselves with another person they may or may not know, isn't healthy or helpful. We want to show them that being able to strike up, hold and gracefully walk away from a conversation is an art that needs practice. And they need to understand that being bored is OK.

Now, I am not a masochist - my kids have tablets that they watch movies and play games on. I am not saying kids should never have a phone or a tablet.

But kids and parents need to do more handholding and hugging, more talking and discussing, more daydreaming. We need to get back to resting in the grass and experiencing that peaceful feeling of watching the clouds float by. And we need fewer handheld objects to distract and entertain us.

Life is short, childhood is even shorter. Let's work harder to save our kids from a childhood spent inside a phone.
Carli Pierson is a digital editor at USA TODAY and a New York-licensed attorney.

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No TikTok? No problem. Here's why you shouldn't rush to buy your child a phone.

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Life is short, childhood is even shorter. I don't want my kids living theirs inside a phone.

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The debate over cellphone use in schools: pros and cons • Central Rivers AEA

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The use of cellphones in schools is a hot topic. While cellphones offer many benefits, they also bring challenges. Schools… Continue reading The debate over cellphone use in schools: pros and cons

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Cellphones in the Classroom: Should It Be Allowed? - Graduate Programs for Educators

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Is it a distraction or a learning tool? Weigh the pros and cons of allowing cellphones in the classroom.