When you give a child a cell phone, suddenly they are no longer a child. It's their 13th birthday, and their eyes light up as it fully registers in their brain what they just unwrapped. The shiny, small, plastic box that flips open and close isn't just a phone; it's a symbol. Finally, they're like the other kids, the ones who already turned 13 and spend their nights chattering to each other. No longer are they bound to the house, phone shackled to the wall on the kitchen counter. This means freedom, this means privacy, this means growing up.
When you give a teen a cell phone, the novelty flipping mechanics of it become dated and undesirable. A full keyboard is added and the feature of texting is coveted more than anything. Texting dehumanizes the conversation, making it just words instead of something personable. People have more courage when hiding behind a screen and keyboard. Harsh words and remarks that used to linger on the lockers in the hallways can follow you home and still taunt you.
When you give a teen a cell phone, screens get bigger and uncharted territories get wider. Their world is expanded by more social media profiles and snaps, it's a wonder how they keep track of everything. Everything is instantaneous. A Snapchat is sent and disappears in 10 seconds, you can upload a picture on Instagram and get hundreds of likes in an hour or dozens of mean comments made by cackling classmates hiding behind their screens and their hovering thumbs. Suddenly, the phone doesn't mean privacy; their own life doesn't even belong to them anymore. It belongs to all their followers, all their "friends," and all the people they added.
When you give a teen a cell phone, it stunts them from social growth. Group chats become the new sleepovers, Snapchat streaks are the new dates, a relationship can be broken over an ill-timed Instagram like, and mean comments online aren't just taken as school bullying anymore. Once online, it isn't heard from the abuser but by the internal voice of the victim. Technology has created a paradox of social interaction that promotes a twisted view of what is and is not socially acceptable.
When you give a teen a cell phone, they think they are capable of things they cannot possibly comprehend. So please, think before you give a child a cell phone.
