What age should children be allowed to have cell phones? Are they ruining their communication skills
Social media has been around approximately for 40 years according to Conference Call. However, since around 2005 when YouTube rolled out along a few other sites such as Myspace and Facebook social media usage increased incredibly. The increased internet usage can be attributed to advancements in technology. Cell phones are more assessable than ever. During the early 2000's most children received cell phones from their parents around the age of 13. As the 2000's progresses children began receiving cell phones at younger ages. According to a 2016 report by the Influence Central children receive their first cell phone at age 10. Is this new trend of children being exposed cell phones and social media running their communication skills? This question remains to be answered.
During the early 2000's cell phones had a minimal amount of games and were mainly used for communication and emergency purposes. Kids who grew up in the decades that preceded the 2000's had to resort to using pay phones or house phones to communicate with friends and family. More time was spent interfacing with friends and family which greatly enhanced their communication skills. According to the Youth Service Bureau children who tend to use social media more at home tend to spend less time with family and friends. This type of behavior could indicate signs of loneliness and depression. Therefore, it is important for parents to monitor their children's cell phone and social media usage. Implementing rules on usage and creating more time to interface can go a long ways in ensuring children are enhancing their communication skills.
Social media has its positives and negatives. The positives include expanding children's network. The more people children get to know the better. This especially matters when networking in college or just in general as they transition to adulthood. Networking can lead to employment opportunities and business opportunities. The negatives include exploitation some people use the internet to exploit others. Cyber bulling is at an all time high with todays youth. Social media can also create a false narrative that does not exist. Children are naive and will for the most part believe anything. This is why it is important for children to balance their social media usage. For example, spending one hour using social media and another reading a book on a daily basis will help children distinguish between what is real and fake.
