Holidays are just around the corner! Along with jingle bells, tinsels, charity drives and everything else that comes on the minds of the kids to ask for from Santa. While some parents shop around for hours, sifting through every possible item to present their kids with the perfect gift, some parents may have already considered giving their teen a smartphone. Because, that’s what most of the tweens and teens who don’t own a smartphone want for their christmas.
The perfect gift for most of the teens is a smartphone, and according to an online survey by ReviewedByTeenagers.com, 62% of the teens, ages between 12-17 consider an iPhone 5s, as their perfect birthday gift.Well that’s not surprising at all as a smartphone can represent many facets of a teen’s life: Independence, responsibility and most of all, popularity. Majority of the teens own a smartphone, maybe not an iPhone 5s, but having a smartphone is more like an appendage for everyone, even for the teens. And if your child’s friend has got something, you child would probably want it too.
According to parents, a smartphone wouldn’t be the perfect gift for their kids. Giving a child their own smartphone isn’t an easy decision to make.
A basic cell phone can only make calls, or send/receive texts, but a smartphone is a lot more than that. It’s a complete internet-ready devices with tons of applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat etc. A smartphone opens up an entirely new channel of communication for teens to connect with friends, family and the world. It also inevitably implies more media consumption. But if you are confused whether to get one for your child, there are many benefits of doing so.
Benefits of a smartphone
It must come as a surprise to you, but there are many benefits of having a smartphone, and they don’t apply just to the teens, but for everyone. Almost 73 percent of teens own a smartphone, 15 percent rely on basic cell phone and only 12 percent are phone-less.
Smartphones teach kids how to be digitally conscious and fluent. According to The Conversation, smartphones make kids tech-savvy, developing them for more opportunities in the future.
Smartphone help users by getting quick information about something. Teens can look up for some definition, location or answers by simply using their smartphone’s browser. But before you think any further about getting a smartphone for your child, you need to ask yourself, is your child ready for a smartphone?
What’s the right age for kids to have a smartphone?
There is no age for that actually, but others factors play a role. 56 percent of the kids get their first phone when they are between 8 to 12 years old. Some kids hit puberty earlier than others. So the maturity and consciousness is subjective over the individual traits of a kid. If your kid starts to show responsibility with other parts of their life, it may be the time that you can get them a smartphone. But digital awareness comes with experimentation. Use a smartphone monitoring app like Trackmyfone to take care of your teens’ smartphone activity.
Have a Safe and Happy Christmas!
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