Bill Gates Says This Is the

'Safest' Age to Give a

Child a Smartphone
Getting a smartphone is the new coming-of-age
ceremony. According to the tech billionaire, this is when
that should happen.
By: Melanie Curtin Writer, activist

Setting and maintaining reasonable boundaries around technology is now a

fundamental part of parenting. Of paramount importance: when to give a kid their very
own device.

This isn't something to be taken lightly. Analytics firm Flurry says American consumers
spend 5 hours a day on our mobile devices. Another study said time spent in mobile
apps increased a whopping 69 percent year-over-year.

Considering how many hours a day this budding human brain will spend staring at that
screen, it's worth putting serious thought into what age is appropriate to get a mobile
device.

According to the latest research, on average, a child gets his or her first smartphone at
10.3 years old. That same study shows that by age 12, a full 50 percent of children have
social media accounts (primarily Facebook and Instagram).

Not so with the Gates family. In a recent interview with The Mirror, Bill Gates said he
didn't let any of his children get their own phone until they were 14 years old.

That's right: His kids, now 20, 17, and 14, weren't allowed to have smart phones until
they were high school age.
Gates is joined in this assessment by James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, a
nonprofit that reviews products and content for families. In the Steyer household, kids
have to be in high school before they can get a phone -- after demonstrating they can
exercise restraint and understand "the value of face-to-face communication."

On other parents facing the same choice, Steyer says, "No two kids are the same, and
there's no magic number ... A kid's age is not as important as his or her own
responsibility or maturity level."

If you're looking for a way to evaluate that maturity level, PBS Parents has curated a list
of practical questions to ask yourself before giving a child their first cell phone. They
include things like:

 Do your children "need" to be in touch for safety

reasons--or social ones?
 Can they get behind the concept of limits for minutes
talked and apps downloaded?
 Can they be trusted not to text during class, disturb
others with their conversations, and to use the text,
photo, and video functions responsibly (and not to
embarrass or harass others)?

It's worth noting that even after cell phones have been distributed, the Gates family still
limits screen time. Mobile devices are banned at the dinner table (this goes for kids and
parents alike). For younger kids, overall screen time is even more limited: "We often set
a time after which there is no screen time, and in their case that helps [the kids] get to
sleep at a reasonable hour."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's something else strictly banned in the Gates household:
all Apple products.

Apparently whatever smartphones the Gates kids have, they're not iPhones.

PUBLISHED ON: MAY 10, 2017