So your child or teen wants a smartphone. Well that’s easy, you’ve probably got a spare one from your last plan or can get one from someone else secondhand. It will be great for them to learn how to manage their data spending, it will be great for them to be able to communicate with you whenever you need. And they’ve been begging you for Instagram for months now.

So why not, then? What’s the big deal, everyone’s got them, right? We are a technology-centric society so it’s only natural to want one, right? Hey, they even need them nowadays, don’t they?

And so begins the slippery slope.

As you know, parenting is not easy. This is one of those decisions that you could be easily swayed on. In fact, it’s going to be pretty bloody difficult to hold any kind of a stand against giving your teenager a phone, isn’t it?

So, why not give them one?!

Let me tell you why – because it’s as dangerous as giving them alcohol or letting them drive your car. You may as well order them mental health issues on a plate, with a side serving of sexual exploitation and irreversible privacy invasion for-afters.

Go back up and read those first couple of paragraphs. See how easy that was to agree with all of those statements? See how easy it is to follow the path of least resistance? Yes, that part is easy. But dealing with the multiple, daily fallouts that occur as a result of a child having a smart phone, now that is not easy at all. Not now, and not when they are still dealing with the social, emotional and mental consequences as an adult.

Continue reading “Your Kid & Smartphones – What’s the Big Deal?”