Parents’ Dilemma: When to Give Children Smartphones

'The battle for the attention of America’s children pits parents against some of the world’s most advanced companies. It is a fight as lopsided as it sounds

Gabriel Krause-Grosman, 12 years old, spent family dinners for the greater part of a year on a smartphone offensive. He hounded. He pleaded. All his friends had one, he prodded. Yet his parents stood firm.

“Who the hell would give a junior-high schoolchild a gaming platform to walk through the world with?” said Ellen Krause-Grosman, his mother. “It feels a little like trying to teach your kid how to use cocaine, but in a balanced way.”

She and her husband worried if they could shield their son from addictive videogames, pornography, online bullying or predatory strangers.

Then they folded. Gabriel got an LG Aristo and has since bent to its demands, sometimes at the expense of playing violin or going outside. “I spend way too much time on it,” the boy said.'

You can read more of what the Wall Street Journal has to say here.