It’s no secret that having a smartphone at the ready 24/7 can lead to some unhealthy habits for both kids and adults. But there’s also no denying the convenience of it.
For parents, giving kids (especially tweens and teens) a smartphone has become a rite of passage. It also represents a difficult parenting decision. Trying to figure out the right age for a smartphone and what guardrails to employ can get complicated.
“There is no one right answer for how and when to give your kids access to a smartphone,” says Kelly Melistas, L.L.P., a child and adolescent psychologist at Henry Ford Health. “Whenever you do it, it’s important to set clear and consistent guidelines to help keep your child safe.”
Smartphone Addiction in Children and Teens
Few people, at any age, are immune to the addictive allure of smartphones. Notifications pinging, friends texting, funny Instagram reels—they all feed into our need to continuously check our phones.
“We’re all constantly inundated, and as long as the phone is within reach there is no break,” says Melistas. “As adults, we struggle to manage it, but kids and teens don’t yet have the capacity to handle and process it.”
Spending time on your phone—playing games, scrolling social media, watching videos—can lead to spikes in dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the brain’s reward system. Each time you open a new app, start a new game or hit play on a new reel, the brain rewards you with a spike in dopamine. The result is a constant craving to keep doing it.
“Kids’ prefrontal cortexes aren’t fully developed yet,” says Melistas. “That makes it even more difficult for them to regulate these behaviors and not get sucked in.”
Dangers of Smartphones for Kids
A study published last year in the journal Pediatrics found an alarming connection between smartphones and depression in kids. This was particularly true in younger children who had access to smartphones.
Researchers looked at smartphone ownership at different ages. They found that kids who had smartphones by age 12 had a 30% higher chance of developing depression than their peers without smartphones.
The same study also found a correlation between smartphones and other health outcomes. Kids with smartphones by age 12 also had 40% higher odds of obesity and 60% higher chance of being sleep deprived.
Other previous research has shown possible connections between social media exposure, gaming and other aspects of smartphones and negative physical and mental health effects. These can include social isolation, cyberbullying, lack of focus and impacts on academics.
“It’s scary to hand a kid access to a phone because there’s so much out there, and you don’t always know what they’re being exposed to,” warns Melistas. “One minute they’re watching a stream of cat videos and all of a sudden it can switch to a video of a kid talking about suicide.”
What’s the Right Age to Get a Smartphone?
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The research suggests that the younger a child is when they get a smartphone, the higher the potential for it to have negative effects. But Melistas acknowledges that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for parents navigating this decision.
“Every kid is different, and you know your child, and their maturity level, best,” she says. “Also, look at why you are thinking about giving them a phone and how they’ll be allowed to use it.”
She cautions that it’s the rare parent who regrets waiting to hand over a smartphone to their child. And once your child has access to one, it’s much harder to take it away—or scale back how they’re allowed to use it.
“There isn’t a set age for having access to devices like there is for driving a car,” she says. “But even though they get a license at 16, there are still some restrictions. The same goes for the phone.”
How Parents Can Help Kids Navigate Screentime
Before you give your child their first smartphone, it’s important to have a family conversation about screentime guidelines and expectations. “Make it clear that if they don’t stay within the guidelines, you will take the privilege away,” says Melistas. It’s also important that kids understand that the rules are there to help protect, not punish, them.
“Kids need to know what to expect, which requires parents to have very clear, concise and consistent rules,” she says. These should include:
- Letting your child know you’ll be doing random checks of their phone, messages, social media accounts and app use—to make sure they’re being safe
- Keeping the phone out of their bedroom overnight and disconnecting at least an hour before bedtime
- Requiring parental authorization for adding apps or contacts
- Setting time limits on (or blocking) certain apps
“At some point, they’re going to be on their own, with full access to everything a smartphone can connect them to,” says Melistas. “Your job is to give them access with boundaries to help them learn how to handle it. With the right guardrails, they’ll be less likely to experience problems.”
Reviewed by Kelly Melistas, L.L.P., a child and adolescent psychologist who sees patients virtually.
