A higher-up at Samsung has said that he did not give his daughter a phone until she was 11, as shared in a BBC report.
James Kitto, vice president head of the MX (Mobile eXperience) Division for the U.K. and Ireland, told BBC’s “Today” radio show Friday, February 3rd. “I personally wouldn’t have given her one early, but it is a parental decision as to when you should get your child a phone.”
Kitto took over the role at Samsung in December 2022, before which, he served as the vice president of sales and sales director at Samsung. “What is important here is that, whoever is using a smartphone, of whatever age, is safe when they are surfing and browsing the internet,” said Kitto. “From my personal perspective, my daughter got a smartphone when she was 11.”
Kitto doesn’t say that 11 is the golden age for kids to start using smartphones. According to him, no matter what age you give your kids a smartphone, it is important for your to ensure that if they are accessing the internet with the phone, they must access it in a safe way.
It is not uncommon for parents to be handing over smartphones to children younger than 11. According to a 2021 Common Sense Media study, more than two-fifths (42 percent of the studied subjects) of children have their own phones by the age of ten. That is especially concerning when you consider that just last week, the Children’s Commissioner for England published a survey where it asked 16 to 21-year-olds when they first saw pornography. By age nine, 10 percent of the survey respondents had seen porn, and 27 percent had seen it by age 11.
According to Statista, in Canada, 39 percent of children aged between two and six years in Canada were reported to use a mobile phone. Half of the respondents aged between seven and 11 years were reported to have a mobile device of their own.
A majority, if not all, mobile phones come with parental controls that allow you to limit your young ones’ screen time, app usage, and set content and privacy restrictions. Read more about it here.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: BBC News
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
