Consumer Alert: Your kid wants a phone for Christmas. Here's how to know if he's ready - News10NBC

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – All I privation for Christmas is simply a compartment phone. That whitethorn beryllium the apical happening connected your kid’s Christmas list. But is your kiddo acceptable for the responsibility? That’s the question I’m debating close now. Neither my 10-year-old nor my 13-year-old person compartment phones. And my household is decidedly successful the minority. According to Common Sense Media, 71 percent of 12-year-olds person a compartment phone.

Here are my concerns.

• Cell telephone addiction – According to Common Sense Media, surface clip for tweens is much than 5 and a fractional hours a time and for teenagers it’s is simply a whopping 8:39 a day.
• Social Media usage – Certainly we arsenic parents interest astir societal media.  There’s ever the hazard of cyberbullying and inappropriate online behavior. The 2021 Common Sense Media study recovered that 38 percent of kids 8 to 12-years-old study utilizing societal media, an property radical that’s technically not aged capable to person entree to the superior societal media platforms.
• The Cost – If my kid can’t support up with his socks, tin helium support up with a 1000 dollar phone? And what astir each those app purchases?  Will helium rack up charges connected my recognition card?

So however tin I cognize if my kid is ready?  A tech guru with AT&T says there’s a trial for that.

“It’s screenready.att.com,: said Jason Komenski, referencing his company’s tract that has astute telephone readiness accusation for parents. “So you tin spell connected determination and determination is really a quiz you tin instrumentality with your kid called the telephone acceptable quiz. It’s astir 10 questions. It takes astir 10 minutes. And successful the extremity it volition springiness you a ready, a not ready, and an astir ready. And astatine that constituent you tin marque the decision.”

AT&T developed the trial unneurotic with the American Academy of Pediatrics.  And this is my favourite question.”How often bash you spot your child’s judgement erstwhile they marque decisions erstwhile you’re not there?” The reply says a batch astir whether you tin spot your kiddo with a machine successful his pocket.

And it’s truly important for you and your kid to instrumentality the trial together. Even if you find that your kid is not ready, it’s an fantabulous speech starter, a accidental for you and your kid to speech astir the behaviour you request to spot earlier determining he’s acceptable for a phone.

AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon besides person household information plans, allowing you arsenic a genitor to artifact explicit content, artifact numbers and acceptable acquisition limits connected your child’s phone.

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