Smartphones and Teenagers

A few years ago I posted excitedly about ordering my very first iPhone and praying that it would not result in my children being left to fend for themselves as I horribly neglected them in favor of staring at the small screen all day long. They have grown quite a lot since then, and whether my iPhone addiction has done them any long lasting psychological damage will of course be fodder for the psychologists of their future. 

Soooooo, you are asking yourselves, what about the kids?!?!  Should they be allowed to have smartphones?  Obviously I'm a tech expert and not a child psychologist, but being a mother with a pention for mobile technologies it's certainly a topic to which I've given thought.

First off, let's remember that a smartphone is as much a computer as it is a phone.  Many experts have recommended that computers be kept in the public areas of the house, and not in children's bedrooms.  So if you give your child a smartphone then you are essentially allowing a computer and everything accessible on it into your child's room. 

In short, your child's bedroom becomes a gateway to the world ...

and a way to escape the Wicked Witch of Home .... Mom!

"Do your homework!  Clean up the mess in the kitchen! Get your dirty socks out of the livingroom!"