Illustrated by: Allyson Phillips

As a certified Gen-Z born in 2008, almost everyone I knew looked forward to getting a smartphone. 24/7 access to calls with friends, games, and Instagram posting abilities were all highlights of owning your first phone. Getting a smartphone once you reached middle school was a right of passage and a huge step into your teenage years. But nowadays, it feels like that moment is happening much younger for some. 

According to a recent study, over half of kids aged 10 have a smartphone. That means half of the kids in an average 4th-grade classroom have gained access to the internet, social media, and more. Gaining access to all of that media at such an early age has proven to be extremely harmful. 

We all know how addictive phones and social media can be. It’s enticing to stay up well past our bedtime to scroll TikTok, like posts on social media, and play BlockBlast. But imagine a 10-year-old feeding into that addiction- scrolling social media for hours on end, losing sleep that their growing bodies need. Not only that, but gaining access to a smartphone has been proven to make you less social. Children need quality time together, and child development studies show that elementary school is where children form some of those crucial bonds with peers and learn important social skills. If you have access to a phone, you may not need to play on the playground with friends- you simply can text them after school to talk with them. But face-to-face connection is so important during those early development stages, and if children are gaining access to phones, that level of connection will slowly decline. 

Not only are they not forming bonds, early access to social media can also be incredibly dangerous for young minds. (Well, really all minds). Recently, studies conducted in over 50 countries have shown a strong link between social media and body image issues, eating disorders, and mental health problems. Having unsupervised internet access at such a young age exposes you to all of these issues much before your mind may be able to handle them. Similarly, social media causes shorter attention spans, depression, and decreased literacy levels. 

Although smartphone usage at such a young age shouldn’t be discouraged, there are a few reasons why it may be helpful. Children who ride the bus, stay home alone for long periods of time, or need communication with parents for after-school programs may benefit from being able to use a phone to communicate with their parents or guardians. But these phones should have solely one purpose- to communicate with parents- and should be heavily monitored or used with permission. But even then, there are plenty of ways to still communicate without having to purchase your child a smartphone. After all, we survived for generations, and somehow, our parents always picked us up on time. (well, mostly.) 

So, how young is too young for a smartphone? Well, that is up to individual families. But when buying a phone for someone all 13, you should definitely consider all the dangers. Getting a smartphone for a child versus a teenager is much different, although both can come with consequences.