Many parents have wrestled with the question of when to allow their children to get a cellphone, and now there's a new tool backed by science to help families decide.
Cellphones can come with dangers, including explicit content, bullying on social media and identity theft — all of which make it hard for parents to decide when their child is old, and mature, enough to have a phone.
For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP, has collaborated with a cellphone company to offer guidance based on insight from doctors.
"I'm not necessarily overly restrictive about it. I try to lean into the positive sides of it," said Breanne Carpenter, a busy mom with two tech-savvy girls: Charlotte who’s almost 10 and Quinn who’s 7 years old.
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She said both of her daughters have tablets, but many of Charlotte’s friends in the 4th grade also have their own phones and Charlotte has been begging for one.
Carpenter said her answer has always been "no" but recent events have made her stop to reconsider.
"After the Uvalde shooting, hearing the stories of the children who were calling 911 from their devices in the classroom," she said. "At least for me, I started researching and thinking about it from a slightly different perspective. It wasn't just about a phone but what do I need for her to feel safe? For me to feel safe?"
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Carpenter felt torn until she found the free, online questionnaire that offered some guidance based on science and medical research.
"It's really helping you pause and reflect and say, 'What should we be thinking about when we're, you know, maybe making this investment in what's usually a couple hundred dollars and a gateway to the internet - and all of its bright spots and its gutters - for your child?'"
Dr. Jenny Radesky is with the American Academy of Pediatrics and she teamed up with AT&T to create the questionnaire.
"The very last part of the questionnaire is really important. It asks parents, 'How ready are you to have regular check-ins and conversations with your child about their experience with this phone?' Because you can't just hand it over and hope that all goes well," Radesky said.
Carpenter took the survey and said the results helped confirm what she was already feeling.
"We resulted with not ready, not quite yet ready for a phone, which is not far off from where I was thinking we were, but it helped reinforce that perspective for me," she said.
But they came up with a compromise and ended up getting Charlotte a watch that can also make phone calls.
"She could text me, message me or call me if she needed me, but it didn't have the full access to a screen apps in the same way that a phone does. It felt really like the perfect alignment for her at this age," Carpenter said.
A new study by marketing firm Influence Central found, on average, children get their first smartphone at the age of 10.
