In your opinion, should minors have access to smartphones?
o Consider the many facets of this question and weigh the positives of smartphones
with the negatives, including both long-term and short-term effects. These could
include such long-term effects as impacts on our ability for introspection, or
short-term effects that include distraction and anxiety.
o Be specific in your response about the age group of minors you are referring to.
You could focus on children 12 and under or teen drivers (or both).
o Ensure that your response is also founded in the resources from this module (or
resources you find to back up your opinion) and that you are citing your sources.
I have two stepsons, ages 10 and 8, and neither of them have a smartphone
of their own but do have access to their mothers’ and grandmothers’
phones as well as mine and my husband’s phones. I also have close friends
who have children the same ages as my stepsons who have their own
smartphones, although they do not have phone service on their phones and
can only use them on Wi-Fi. Seeing the difference in attitudes and abilities
between both sets of children, I feel that children under the age of 14
should not have smartphones. When engaging with my stepsons, I have
little to no trouble getting them to participate in activities such as board or
card games, or arts and crafts with me and my husband, or spending time
together as a family with their grandmothers and mothers. With my
stepsons, I also have little to no trouble in getting them to go outside and
be active. When I pay closer attention to my friend’s children, while the
, two will go outside, they will find somewhere near their home to sit so
they can still be online on their phones. My friends also have to take their
phones away from their children at mealtimes and bedtime as they will
play on their phones rather than eat or sleep. On the rare occasion that my
friends’ children go outside without their phones, unless they are in the
swimming pool, they repeatedly ask their mom “Can I go inside now?” or
“Can I go get my phone?”.
While there are pros to children having access to smartphones, or smart
devices in general, there are also cons when it comes to the child’s
development. One of these pros is having access to information at their
fingertips. My friend’s children are homeschooled, so they are used to
interacting with technology for a large portion of the day during the school
year. These two children will spend roughly eight hours a day on a laptop
working on their school assignments, then spend as much time as possible
for the remainder of the day playing video games or talking with their
friends online through their phones. Another pro to children having access
to smart devices is the ability to improve their communication skills.
When a child struggles with social skills, technology has advanced to the
point of becoming helpful in working on communication. Technology has
made the accessibility of communication platforms easier to gain access to
as well as aiding the users with the skills they struggle with the most. A
final pro to children having smart devices is the enhancement of creativity.
My friend’s daughter is extremely creative and loves to draw. She has
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