Conversations around if and when children should be given mobile phones have being going on for years. But recently the question has been catapulted to the forefront of national debate.
From campaigning parents to bestselling books, a movement has emerged that believes smartphones are ruining childhoods and that young people should be banned from having them. It’s not hard to come up with reasons why: they are addictive, keep children glued to screens instead of playing, can be used for online bullying and are one reason why so many children have seen pornography.
But there are also positives: offering parents the security of knowing their children can reach them if they need help, and allowing much-needed social connections for marginalised groups. So how worried should parents be? Blake Montgomery, the Guardian’s US technology editor, looks at what the science says about children and phone usage.
Annalisa Barbieri, who answers readers’ problems in the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, and her daughter Raffaella explain how they see this fraught debate. They tell Helen Pidd how together they navigated the pitfalls of social media and smartphones without resorting to a ban.
Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy
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