At what age should children be allowed to have a smartphone?

Media caption,

Hear these children have their say on smartphones

  • Published

Smartphones - Do you have one? And if so, at what age did you get it?

Lots of children get them in the final year of primary school, when they may start to walk to school on their own.

But a group of parents in Hertfordshire have agreed not to give their children smartphones at all until the end of Year 9 - when most will have turned 14.

They say it's to protect them from online bullying and to avoid them spending too much time on social media.

What do you think about smartphones? Let us know in the comments below.

Social media use: World Health Organisation report

A recent report by the World Health Organisation suggests there has been a big rise in what it calls 'problematic' social media use amongst teenagers across the world.

The report spoke to thousands of children aged 11, 13 and 15 across 44 countries.

From the findings, the World Health Organisation says that some young people are lying about how much they are on their socials, struggle to take time away from them, and would rather be using them than doing anything else; like meeting friends or doing activities.

But it also says that users can make really strong social connections online.

It wants more lessons for young people on how to use socials in a healthy way and says social media companies need to do more to stop kids using it when they’re too young.