Importance of Parental Guidance in Smartphone Usage

I remember my first phone, that was many years ago when I was just about 10 years old. It was a small phone without internet. My mum had gotten it for me for ease of communication. Calls, text messages, finished.

I got my first smartphone at 17, although I was given a laptop at about 14 which was when I actually began to use the internet.

It was a good experience and I was able to learn so much to the extent that my computer teacher called me a computer wizard. This was many years ago. The computer spoilt and I lost access to a teacher and many things changed for me and subsequently when I got another system, I struggled to find the rhythm of the past. I even tried to locate my teacher but all efforts proved abortive until I gave up and began to do things my own way. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

From my experience I know that smartphone and social media can be a very huge distraction for children while growing up and it can also be a great tool for growth, development and progressiveness if handled with the right approach and mentality especially with the guidance of a responsible adult.

In that regard, I believe that children should be exposed to smartphones quite early from about 5 years but of course only when the parent is around to supervise.

Children have a way of navigating these devices almost as if the knowledge was in born.

It could be a great advantage for a child to grow up using the very capable and useful tool which is the smartphone or computer and doing so with adult supervision.
That way, the child will acquire computer skills early enough which will definitely prove useful in this digital age.

In light of the negative side of smartphones, the child should always be supervised until at least 15 years of age or thereabouts. This would help in minimising the risks and increasing the gains and productivity.

We are in the digital age and one way or the other, the children will be exposed to smartphones and social media. But receiving exposure from parents makes the learning be from parents.
That way, the quality of usage is certain and intent is assured.

It's important to note that this is not 100% guaranteed to be safe, hence once a parent foresees their own inability to monitor the child, they should not toe this path because it could lead to more disaster and fill the parents with regrets.

Every child is special and have different abilities. It's equally important to realise whether a child would benefit from the early exposure to tech or not to avoid fitting square pegs in round holes and wasting the time of everybody including the child.

The child who is a tech prodigy should be nurtured. Not just with the smartphone but also with a computer and possibly a tutor so as to enable him or her reach his full potential.