The easiest way to infuriate the young is to lean into nostalgia.
Nevertheless, it’s hard not to be nostalgic for a childhood in which the
basic equipment for elementary school was pretty much limited to
notebooks, pencils, and an occasional ruler. Those days are long gone.
Verizon Wireless recently released a national survey of parents. The
study revealed that the average age at which parents give their children
their first cell phone is 11.6. Do sixth graders really need a cell
phone?
Well, hold on. The same survey indicated that ten percent of parents
give their children a cell phone between the ages of 7 and 9. A recent
Nielsen Company study indicated that the average age for a first phone
in many families may be as low as 9.7.
Most parents said that safety is their concern. But how many 7-9
year-olds are waiting on the curb at the mall for mom to pick them up?
Maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that question. In reality, few
second-graders need a cell phone for safety in that sense. Something
else is going on here, and the net result is that children are being
pushed into the digital world at ever-earlier ages. Keep Reading >>>
