A survey carried out by the Mobile Free Adolescence (ALM) with the participation of almost 23,000 Catalan families concludes that the majority would be willing to socially agree on the age at which mobile phones are given to their children, pointing out that the optimal age is from 16 years old. .
The survey was carried out through family associations and some 22,919 families responded, 15,124 in primary school, 7,225 in secondary school and 570 with children only in preschool. In total, there are 1,312 educational centers spread across 356
Catalan municipalities.
Thus, 62% of primary school families think that the best age to give their child a smart phone is at least 16 years old. This contrasts with the responses from secondary school, where 82% stated that their children had a mobile phone at the age of 12 or earlier.
The authors of the survey interpret that secondary school parents could have been subjected to social pressure to give their children their cell phones, assuming that a similar percentage to those in primary school would have wanted, when their children were in primary school, to delay the age.
Among the percentage of primary school families that are in favor of giving the cell phone before the age of 16, the majority would do so between 13 and 15 years (30%) and almost 10% at age 12 or earlier.
The survey also asks parents for the reasons that led them to decide to give smartphones to their children. Mostly (almost 60%) have identified themselves with the phrase: “because he will be alone on the street and I want him to be reachable.”
The second important reason, with 33% of the responses, is due to social pressure and to prevent their child from being the only one not to have it.
Four out of ten say they are unaware of alternatives to mobile phones, such as watches that only allow calls or phones without access to the internet or social networks.
There is also a disparity in responses in access to social networks (includes Whatsapp, Instagram, TikTok…) which are prohibited for minors before the age of 14. However, seven out of ten families would like to delay the access age by two years. This once again contradicts what happens in practice: more than half (55%) have opened social media accounts for their children at the age of 12 or even before that age.
