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Brieanna Miller
Professor Whitney Nelson
English 2010-410
15 July 2015
Smart Parents Regulate Smart Phones
We are living in a day and age where technology is prevalent in our society. Our children
want the latest and greatest technology available. Kids are getting cell phones at earlier ages. A
smartphone is not the first phone a child should have. A cellphone is a privilege not a right. There
are many potential dangers when a smartphone is
involved. Cell phones can also put social media,
videos, games, movies, music, and TV shows within
reach. Are you ready for your child to have that kind
of access? (When) We need to regulate our childrens
exposure to inappropriate content; intermittent
checking and non-smart phones for children is a great way to
regulate exposure.
There is a lot of communication done through cellphones these days, such as texting,
email, and Facebook messenger. When I was young and wanted to play I would call my friends
house phone to get a hold of them. A lot has changed since then. Technology is a convenience
that makes life more comfortable, but are our children missing out on learning vital skills by
having technology to readily available? It seems like because of the convenience of texting that
kids are not developing the social skills necessary to talk on the phone. There was a time in life

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where people would have to take time to plan ahead, but now if we need to find a meeting place
we will just call each other on our cell phones. If we dont have directions to arrive at a
destination, we just plug it into our smart phone. There is a lot more last minute party planning
because we dont have to wait a week for the invites to go out in the mail. We can just text or
send the information through a social media site. If we are not learning to plan ahead for minor
things like this. How can we know if we are teaching our kids to think ahead before making a
decision?
There is a lot of practical communication use for having a cell phone such as doctor
appointments can be confirmed through text, sports practices can be formed or cancelled through
text. It can make sense to give a child a cell phone when they join a group, club, school activity,
or sports, however a smartphone may not the best choice. There is a negative side to
communication through cell phones. Naughty things can be sent in text messages with words or
pictures, like sexting. There is an app called Snap Chat that will only show a picture or a movie
for a few seconds. It would be very easy for kids, most likely teens, to feel like they can get away
with sending dirty pictures because there would be no evidence after viewing the picture. As a
parent It is important to monitor what your child is communicating and to whom.
There is a greater chance that a child could have negative communication on a
smartphone. Because smart phones introduce apps that would allow a child to access social
media sites, I think that it is in the interest of the child to get a basic cell phone, if a cell phone is
even needed for a child, until the child is at least 13 years of age perhaps even older. 13 years is
the minimum age to sign up and have a profile. This is the minimum age to sign on to sites such
as Facebook and My-Space. (Okeeffe) If you are not ready for your child to sign up for or be

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involved in social media then dont give them access
in a smartphone or online. It is common for people
to pretend to be someone they are not on social
media sites. Kids can be contacted by someone they
or you, their parent, dont know and potentially set a
time and place to meet in person with an unknown
individual. That individual could potentially be a
pedophile. Access to websites and social media apps
are right in their hand this can create a convenient
environment for cyber bulling. If a parent randomly
checks a phone the child will be less likely to get involved in
inappropriate communication.
A great way to make sure that you, as a parent, get
the chance to check your children phones would be to
have a rule where the kids check in their phones at
night. With that rule in place you have a chance to
view their phone and it could prevent late night
communication which could lead to sneaking out at
night. Make

sure that you know the passwords to their phone and social media

accounts. It can be an extra deterrent from inappropriate communication and content, to let your
children know that you will randomly look at their texts and account info.

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Smart phones also allow kids to access the internet. The internet has so much information
and it can be great to have access to all that knowledge, but there is a lot of bad on the internet as
well. Kids can find or be introduced to inappropriate content on the internet. Children could
accidentally stumble across inappropriate content attempting to google something they think
would be funny like poop or butt. With a smart phone available it could be tempting, to kids who
are in school, to use their internet connection to look up answers and cheat on test. Children need
to be taught what is appropriate use of the internet is in general.
An option to disable internet access is available on most smart phones and my mom
turned used this feature on my brothers phone when he was in high school. The problem was
that even tho he couldnt use the browser to access the internet he could still use the Facebook
and youtube apps which connect to the internet. There are many apps that are available on a
smartphone such as games, learning apps, video apps, and social media apps. It is easy to waste
time and maybe become addicted to checking a phone for one thing or another. It is so common
to see teenagers getting together to look at their phones and check Facebook, Instagram, Snap
chat, or text people who arent there, and sometimes people who are there. Its as if they their
phones are another part of their body they have become so attached. There isn't a lot of research
yet on how cell phones affect mental and emotional health. But early studies show that frequent
texting and emailing can disrupt kids' concentration. It can also become compulsive if kids start
being "on call" 24/7 to keep up with their friends. (When) It is beneficial to limit the content a
child is exposed to in order to decrease the potential of addiction. I see so many adults that are
addicted to their phones and it seems like they are on their phones all the time checking

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Facebook or Instagram. It is easy to waste hours playing games and looking on social media sites
on a smartphone.
Kids tend to learn their habits from their parents. It would be a good idea to examine how
you use your phone, then evaluate if you want your kids emulating the same way you use it. Try
focusing on wasted time becoming addicted to checking the phone to keep up with friends,
looking at dumb funny pics, or just
browsing. To assist our children in
their social development, it is
important to take time out of the
day where everyone detaches from
their phones, computers, and any
other distracting technology and
spend time talking face to face. Dinner is a great time to

remove technology

because on top of the benefits of being un-plugged and spending quality time with your kids,
there are studies that show [E]ating family meals may enhance the health and well-being of
adolescents (Eisenberg)
I spoke with a pediatrician, Dr. Peter Lindgren, he shared a story of a child who, when
told a word he didnt understand, immediately grabbed his dads phone and asked Siri. His dad
was sitting right next to him, but instead of asking his dad what he wanted to know he turned to a
smartphone. It is sad that this child learned that technology, such as a smart phone is where to
find answers instead of turning to their parents for answers to understand the world. With
technology becoming more prevalent in our lives we need to make sure that we are good

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examples with tech and regulate the devices that our kids have access to. There is no reason for a
young child to have a smartphone and it is in their best interest not to have one.

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Works Cited
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cyber-bullying-bully-rumor-teasing-122156/>.
Eisenberg, Marla E., Rachel E. Olson, Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Mary Story, and Linda H.
Bearinger. "Correlations Between Family Meals and Psychosocial Well-being Among
Adolescents." Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
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Mcvety, David. Mom and son looking at smarphones. Digital image. Dave Mcvety's Blog.
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O'keeffe, G. S., and K. Clarke-Pearson. "The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents,
and Families." <i>Pediatrics</i> 127.4 (2011): 800-04. <i>American Academy of
Pediatrics Publications</i>. Web. 15 July 2015.
Suspected British Pedophile Arrested. Digital image. Pattayatoday. Pattaya Today, 26 July 2015.
Web. 26 July 2015. <http://pattayatoday.net/news/suspected-british-pedophile-arrested/>.
Vicky. Smartphones. Digital image. Crimeblog. N.p., 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 July 2014. <http://
www.crimeblog.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/phone-smart.jpg>.
"When Is Your Child Ready to Have Their Own Cell Phone." <i>WebMD</i>. WebMD, 2012.
Web. 15 July 2015. &lt;http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/children-and-cellphones?page=3&gt;.