KCTV 5: How young is too young for a child to have a cell phone?
By Amy Anderson
How young is too young for a cell phone?
It’s a topic that parents today will face sooner or later, and the answer may not be as easy as you think.
“My fifth-grader is one of the remaining children in her class to not have a phone,” said Krista Boan who is a mother of four.
The times they are changing as cell phones are no longer just for teens.
“There has been a trend over the years that kids are getting phones at a younger age. Right now, the average is between 10 and 12 years, “ said Dr. Ram Chettiar, a child psychiatrist at Children’s Mercy.
Chettiar says the struggle for parents trying to make the decision on when to buy their child a phone is a stressful one because there are so many negatives.
There are safety issues – little ones simply don’t know enough about protecting private information about things like where they live. If they’re online, they could easily stumble onto something that’s not meant for young eyes.
And, they’re also at risk of cyber-bullying. That risk starts earlier, the younger a child is when they get online.
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Learn about the services offered through the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences at Children's Mercy.