Parents have headaches over whether to let their child have a mobile phone since the birth of the Nokia 3310.
And now Prince William has revealed even the royal family is trying to prevent Prince George from having a smartphone.
Now 12, the young Prince is reportedly pushing back against the future king’s ban. How long can his father hold out?
What do readers think?
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Metro put a call out for parents’ ideas on what age they would allow their children to have a
Here’s how you responded:
Chris Mimmack said: ‘The question is not so much when you give them a phone, it’s what type you give them. All they need is a basic phone, not an iPhone status symbol.’
Christina Girgis commented about the different types of tech given to kids: ‘iPads and things earlier are fine, but a phone with phone plans and using it outside home where you can’t supervise their use as easily is riskier.
‘Using a tablet in the lounge is low risk, but as they get older, they earn more trust and understand safety better and need a bit more independence as well.’
Todd Garland wants his children, who won’t have a phone until 14, to ‘live an active lifestyle and also be confident with mixing with other children instead of hiding behind a screen.’
Jade Lacey said her kids can only have a phone ‘When they have a job and can afford the bill.
‘My girls won’t be given a phone until they can pay for it. Nor do they have a tablet or access to our phones.
‘I never had a phone growing up until I could pay for the bill.’
Some people believe phones are useful for children to have when they start to go out independently.
One mum said: ‘When my children went off to secondary school, they didn’t want me to walk them, so I got them a phone in case they got into difficulties.
‘I wish I could have left it a bit longer, but there are no phone boxes that work anymore – at least where we live.’
During a talk with broadcaster Luciano Huck in Brazil, Prince William spoke about the decision not to let 12-year-old Prince George and their other children have mobile phones yet.
The Prince of Wales said: ‘Our children don’t have phones. I think when George moves on to secondary school, then maybe he might have a phone that has no internet access.
‘And to be honest, it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming a little bit of a like tense issue.
‘But I think he understands why, we communicate why we don’t think it’s right. And again, I think it’s the internet access I have a problem with.
‘I think children can access too much stuff they don’t need to see online, and so having a phone and text message, the old sort of brick phone as they call them, I think that’s fine.’
Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter told Metro: ‘The Princess of Wales has made her feelings known time and time again that she is against it.
‘She’s stated that smartphones create an evangelical disconnection and that she and Prince William have a house rule of not allowing their children to have them.
‘It prevents families from talking to each other. You look at families today, and kids sit down at the table looking at their smartphones.
‘She [Princess of Wales] wants people to talk to each other and not depend on smartphones all their lives.’
What other smartphone alternatives are there?
Mumsnet has recently launched a safety-first smartphone called The Other Phone, for children in collaboration with Nothing and SafetyMode.
This new phone combines top-tier technology and advanced child-safety controls that put children’s well-being first.
The aim of this is to provide a new standard for child safety in smartphones.
Features include: parental control of apps, software that filters harmful content, checks of all in-app content, remote management that lets parents control from anywhere, and a minimalist home screen to prevent addictive use.
Are you worried about your child having a smartphone?
Justine Roberts, Mumsnet founder, said: ‘Parents are hugely worried about the effect of smartphones and social media on their children.
‘They feel trapped between wanting their kids to stay connected and become digitally literate, and knowing that most devices on the market are designed with profit, rather than child safety, in mind.
‘The Other Phone has been created in collaboration with the Mumsnet community to put child safety first and give parents peace of mind.’
What is the ‘Parent Pact’ campaign?
Smartphone Free Childhood, a movement of families standing together to delay phones and social media, launched a ‘Parent Pact’.
The ‘Parent Pact’ campaign aims to get families to commit to delaying giving their children a smartphone until they turn 14 and social media until they turn 16.
The campaign has reached thousands of parents, including famous names like Benedict Cumberbatch, Paloma Faith, and ex-footballer Jamie Redknapp.
Co-founder and director of the movement, Daisy Greenwell, told Metro: ‘Whether you’re a prince or a parent at the school gates, managing smartphones is one of the hardest parts of raising kids today.
‘That’s why 350,000 parents have joined this grassroots movement since it launched less than two years ago.
‘It’s heartening to see William and Kate holding the line – we don’t know if they’ve signed the Smartphone Free Childhood Parent Pact, but they’re clearly on board with the idea that fuels this movement: that childhood’s too short to scroll away.
‘However different their lives are to ours, the challenge is the same – these devices are addictive by design, and no family is untouched.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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