For many tweens heading into middle school, the transition from elementary school won't be marked only by new teachers, class schedules and locker assignments, but also by a gleaming new phone.
An April Pew Research Center study reported that 88 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds have or have access to a cellphone; 73 percent have or have access to a smartphone. Those findings match up with the typical age for a student's first phone: around 12 for a basic cellphone and older than 13 for a smartphone.
Deciding whether a middle schooler is ready to take on mobile phone responsibility is a personal decision for each family. Cost, maturity, time management and other factors play into the decision to give a child a phone. Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that advocates for family education on media and technology, delves into those topics on its website.
"We believe it's important to consider how your kid is going to be using it," said Caroline Knorr, the site's parenting editor. "Are kids going to be able to handle it?"
Knorr noted that many teachers are starting to include technology in the classroom to track schedules, homework, assignments and projects. Some are relying on phone apps to share reports and submit answers, along with other phone-based learning tools.
But, as everyone knows, social apps and texting are constant temptations that can distract kids from schoolwork. Every classroom, school district and even, say, scout troop might roll out different expectations for phone use. But for every situation, Knorr said, parents need to stay consistent on setting their own rules.
CTIA, a nonprofit that represents wireless communications companies, has a Growing Wireless platform that is geared toward parents and kids using digital devices. Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president of external and state affairs, stressed that once a child is given a device, it's up to the parent to "understand how they are using [it]." Keep checking in and communicating, she advised.
For parents whose tweens are reaching that stage when they're not talking as much to mom and dad, the device might offer potential gains, said Liz Kolb, clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Education, who researches education technologies, with a focus on mobile phones. Using the very device that seems to be pushing your son or daughter away might be the best way to communicate. Send a text to thaw the communication freeze, Kolb advised.
