Hey Everyone! Hope you’re doing well!

It is safe to say that my smartphone is a vital part my own life and cell phones in general and smartphones in particular are an important part of the lives of millions if not billions of people all across the world. As scary as it sounds for some people their phone have become a basic necessity just like air, food, and water.

I think that one of the great things about this technology boom is that many people of all social and economic backgrounds have access to some sort of a cell phone. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITC) there were 7 billion registered mobile subscriptions by the end of 2015.

However, the question that I have been pondering over is, what is the ideal age for someone to get their own phone?

The reason I have been thinking about this is because I have two teenage brothers one who is 16 and the other is turning 14 in June. My two brothers (especially the younger one)  have really been wanting a cell phone for quite a while now.

More recently, their desire has really increased and finally my parents have agreed to purchase a smartphone for each of them.

My parents are honestly very firm but loving. In psychological terms they would be an ideal example of authoritative parenting. They decided that the time has finally arrived to make this dream of my brothers come true because the majority of their classmates and friends have their own smartphones and they did not want my brothers to feel too alienated.

Of course, this was one of many reasons why my parents made the decision. However, I think that this was the reason that convinced me the most. Just to give you guys some background I come from a hard working middle class family.

However, we live in a fairly affluent area where many of the families are upper middle class and based on my own observations, along with those of my family, the majority of the students at both of my brothers schools have their own smartphones.

This is why I agree that since it is something that is just so common in our area I feel that it is best that my brothers have their own phones as well especially since we are blessed that that my parents can afford to provide them with this privilege.

As you all know the teenage years are a time when people are especially influenced by their friends and peers and it can be especially easy to feel isolated when everyone around you has something that you do not.

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center 88 % of American teenagers (ages 13 to 17) have their own cell phones and 73% percent of them have smartphones.

Handing a smartphone to the hands of a teen can be risky however, I feel that establishing some firm rules can definitely be helpful.

In our case, my parents have written a full contract for each of my brothers and made them sign the contract. Any major violation of the contract could result in them losing their phone.

The contract contains the basic but important things such as promising to do their homework before playing on their phones, returning the phone to my parents each night at the set curfew, being respectful to others, etc.

I would really love to read your comments. What is your opinion on this issue? Do you think that there is an ideal age where an individual should be able to get a cell phone? Or does it depend on the person and/or situation?

I am looking forward to reading your thoughts!

With love,

Yasmin