How to choose (and when) the first smartphone of a lifetime for boys and girls
These days, there is no shortage of appeals calling for a further crackdown on mobile phones. Here is what you need to know and some advice.
3' min read
3' min read
When does the first smartphone get into the hands of boys and girls? The automatic answer is: as late as possible. These days, there is no shortage of appeals calling for a further clampdown on smartphones after the absolute ban on classroom use decided by the government already this year. Early access to social networks, mobile phones and videos has shone a spotlight not only here in Italy.
In the United States, the attorneys general of 42 states have endorsed US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy's plan to put labelling on social media similar to that warning of the dangers of alcohol and cigarettes, and have asked Congress to approve it. The Australian government, on the other hand, is preparing to ban social media for younger people by setting a minimum age for access.
The reason for all this fervour towards the smartphone is partly, but not only, related to access to the Internet and social media content. Mobile phones have become tools of mass distraction not only for teenagers but also for adults. The most obvious symptom of this phenomenon is what has been dubbed 'infinite scrolling', or the obsessive scrolling of online content with the thumb. The phenomenon is there for all to see: it is increasingly rare, for example, to look each other in the eye when walking down the street.
Hence, the most debated question among mums and dads: when does the first smartphone arrive? The dry answer from experts and pedagogues cornered is: 'not before the age of 14'. To activate a social profile, then, one would have to wait until the age of 16. This, however, is in theory; in fact, much depends on the young person's head (what he or she looks like) and his or her social ecosystem. It becomes complicated - but not impossible - to ban mobile phones when all one's friends or classmates use them.
In any case, in the scientific literature, people start talking about the early use of social networks and smartphones as early as the fifth grade. And that is a problem.
