Do children really need Smartphones?

School is back in Session! New school clothes…check, new pencils…check, new folders…check, new calculator…check, new smartphone….check.  Wait, smartphone?  Since when is that a staple for the back to school shopping?  With going back to school this week there are tons of parents that feel the need to get their child a new smartphone to keep constant communication.  It only makes sense that parents can know where and exactly when their child will be ready to be picked up, who they are going to be with and just the safety net of knowing their child will have that easy communication.  All of that makes sense for the parents to get their child a smartphone these days.

However; is a smartphone really the best thing for anybody between the age of 10 and 15?  If your child is in sports or cheerleading and you, as a parent are constantly trying to find out where he/she might be to pick up at the end of the day, then maybe a cell phone isn’t a bad thing.  What about the children who are just social butterflies and want to have a smartphone to be the “cool” kid on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, etc…? A recent study showed that 56% of children between 10-13yrs old have a smartphone.  Now, that might not all be a terrible thing but is that too early to have your child addicted to technology?  Are we teaching the future how to be wired to a smartphone, social media and little outside communication? Maybe they are just learning from the adults and watching the way that we communicate and how addicted we are to our phones?

The truth of the matter is, a smartphone is necessary when you want information and/or convenience to find anything you want at your fingertips, the problem is that with the younger generations becoming more prone to technology, what are we doing to these poor kids brains? Are we turning them more and more into adults at a younger age?