May 13, 2021
By Aidan Cabrera
Staff Writer
Adolescents are starting to go out more as the pandemic is coming to an end. With these changes comes responsibility, and without a way to communicate to parents, kids’ safety becomes jeopardized. Fortunately, parents can keep their children safe through location apps such as Life360, which keeps track of their whereabouts.
Before high school, children are not mature and do not have many responsibilities, but a phone would help by allowing kids to get whatever they needed in an instant.
Phones can help children make new friends by exposing them to new interests and information to share with others.
However, giving a middle school student a phone may have negative consequences since a lot of kids might not seem responsible enough. A parent may not want their child to experience the horrors of social media and the real cruelties that young eyes are not ready to face.
Phones can help children make new friends by exposing them to new interests and information to share with others.
This could affect the child because they might not know how to use a phone or behave properly on the internet. They might accidentally use offensive phrases or slurs that could potentially be used against them in the future.
Both sides are arguably right, but seeing as safety is the prime reason for children to have phones, it should be given to them, as long as they can prove it would be beneficial.
In the midst of a pandemic, it is essential to ensure children abide by Covid-19 regulations, and a phone may help. With a phone, they could find safe activities to keep themselves entertained rather than going out and possibly risking their own or others’ health.
Giving a child a phone before high school is an individual decision that should be made on a case-by-case basis by every parent, but the best action a parent can take is to teach their children how to use the device when it is first given to them. Parents should show their children how to be responsible and properly take care of the phone while also teaching them how to make the right choices with it.
