Children and Cell Phones: Weighing the Risks and Benefits

First published October 2018
Updated November 2025

We live in a world full of technology and often our children understand it better than we do. Parents may feel pressured by their children to provide them with a cell phone at an early age but aren’t sure when children are ready for this responsibility.

When Should Your Child Get Their First Cell Phone? 

In short, there is no good answer to that question. Many parents begin thinking about providing their child with a phone during the middle school years, when kids are more likely to be involved in after school activities and more likely to be home alone. Common Sense Media suggests that 42 percent of kids have a phone by age 10. That increases to 91 percent by age 14. Current research suggests waiting as long as possible, until at least age 13, to minimize risk. Wait Until 8^th is an online network empowering parents to stick together and delay giving their children a phone. 

• The ability to communicate in emergency situations. Many families don’t have home phones, and public pay phones are a thing of the past.
• Opportunities for social contact with peers – texting, use of social media and (less likely) actually talking on the phone.
• Ability to gain immediate knowledge for personal or academic use – even in elementary school it’s hard to do schoolwork without electronic access to apps, web research and Google docs.
• Entertainment – What kid doesn’t want to spend hours watching people do silly things on YouTube?

Explore the Risks

Is your child responsible enough to carry a cell phone? If they often can’t find their shoes or homework, should you provide them with an expensive phone?

What about the impact on physical and mental health? Risks of electronic media in general include obesity (due to sedentary screen time), decreased sleep and distractibility contributing to poorer academic performance (because YouTube is more interesting than math). Social media usage has been linked to increased anxiety and depression in teens with many experts suggesting waiting until at least age 16 before allowing access to social media.

What can go wrong socially? Thinking about your child’s maturity level and ability to recognize social cues is important.

• Do they understand that repeatedly texting a friend with no response from the friend could be considered annoying? 
• Are they aware that anything they post on social media accounts can be used against them in the future (see many examples from athletes, politicians and celebrities who thought their past was behind them)?
• Research has suggested that children in the third through fifth grade who owned a cell phone were particularly vulnerable to cyberbullying and that they had been cyberbullies themselves.
• Studies estimate that 18-28 percent of high school youth have sent or received a sexual photo.

The Bottom Line

In general, setting guidelines and limits up front is their (and our) best opportunity for success. Here are some ideas:

Limit the amount of time spent on the phone. 

• Experts suggest no screens for at least one hour before bedtime, so consider having your child turn in their phone in the evening. Remove your child’s phone from their room at night so the temptation of a late night “hello” is not there. 
• Create distraction-free homework time where cell phones are put away. 
• Consider “phone free” meals or family times during the day (that means you too, parents!) to promote communication and relationship building.

Require children provide parents with cell phone, email and social media passwords.

• Do random checks of text messages and other phone content. 
• Use parental controls on the phone and apps. 
• Be your child’s social media friend to keep tabs on what they are posting. 
• Educate yourself on the latest apps. 
• Be honest and let them know from the beginning that you will be holding them accountable, so that there are no surprises.

Communicate openly with your child about the risks of cell phone usage. 

• Help them understand safe websites, recognize cyberbullying and the risks of chat rooms and communication with “friends” you’ve never met before. 
• Promote open communication and questions by actively listening, withholding judgement and corrections and allowing them autonomy to problem solve when appropriate.

Consider developing a Family Media Use Plan, using AAP Media Plan as a starting point.