Technology / Education

Dial M for mobile: Helping kids navigate their first phone

11:25 am on 2 May 2024

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As a cellphone ban comes into force this term for school kids, Nine to Noon looks at the issue of when to get a phone for your child. While many - if not most -  of us had a phone-free childhood, the pressure for children to get their own phones is creeping lower and lower.

Many parents will opt for Year 7 and 8 - the intermediate school years - as a time when a phone can help kids navigate a little independence with the peace of mind being able to contact them can bring. Joining Kathryn to talk about this is Ellie Gwilliam is a content editor and presenter for the Parenting Place.

When should kids get their first phone? And what boundaries need to go with it? Photo: andreypopov/123RF