When Should You Give Your Child a Smartphone? A Study Determines the Right Age

[Image caption: Illustrative image of children using smartphones]

                        

When Should You Give Your Child a Smartphone? A Study Determines the Right Age

In a time when smartphones have become an essential tool, it's not easy to know when and how to allow children to start using one. Most studies agree that children's very early smartphone use is unhealthy and may affect them in the future.

A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday, reinforces the argument for delaying smartphone use. It found that children who owned a smartphone before the age of 12 were more prone to depression, obesity, and sleep deprivation compared to those who did not yet own one.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 10,500 children who participated in the Adolescent Brain Development Study, the largest long-term study of children's brain development in the United States to date, according to The New York Times.

The study found that the younger children were when they first got their smartphones, the greater their risk of obesity and sleep deprivation.

[Image caption: Illustrative image of children using smartphones] The researchers also focused on a subset of children who hadn't received a phone at age 12 and found that, a year later, those who had a phone had more adverse mental health symptoms and worse sleep than those who hadn't.

"When you give your child a phone, you have to think of it as something important to the child's health—and act accordingly," explained Dr. Ran Barzilai, the study's lead author and a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

A Better Understanding of the Risks

The new study only shows an association between having a smartphone in early adolescence and poorer health, not a cause-and-effect relationship. 

However, the researchers point to previous studies suggesting that young people with smartphones may spend less time socializing, exercising, and sleeping—all essential for health. They note that adolescence is a sensitive period, where even small changes in sleep or mental health can have profound and lasting effects.

Dr. Barzilai says the study is not intended to embarrass parents who have already given their children devices. He is realistic about how deeply ingrained smartphone use is in adolescence, adding that the bottom line is that age is a significant factor. "A 12-year-old is very different from a 16-year-old," he said. "It's not the same as a 42-year-old versus a 46-year-old."

Trusting Your Intuition

In a related vein, Jacqueline Nessier, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University and author of the TechnoSpiness newsletter on raising children in the digital age, cautioned that the new study cannot prove that smartphones cause direct harm. 

"It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain that kind of causal evidence on this subject," she continued, though the findings might encourage parents to postpone giving their children smartphones for as long as possible.

Dr. Nessi continues, “Carers don’t need to wait for conclusive evidence to make these kinds of decisions.” She adds that they should feel able to trust their instincts and hold off on giving their children smartphones until everyone is ready—including parents, who will have to put in the effort to set safeguards and boundaries. “Giving a child a device that can access everything online is risky,” she adds.

Sleep Deprivation

While researchers may continue to debate the negative effects of smartphones on children, most tend to agree that these devices can prevent children from getting the sleep they need.

Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at the University of California, points to a 2023 study he conducted using a sample of adolescent brain development, which found that 63 percent of 11- and 12-year-olds reported having an electronic device in their bedrooms.

Nearly 17% said they woke up to phone notifications in the past week, and Dr. Nagata advises taking phones out of the bedroom at night to mitigate some of the negative health effects associated with smartphones - even if parents have already given their children a device.