Page 80 - iPhone Life Magazine - Spring 2020

n parenting and tech circles, whether or not to REASON 2: SAFETY
I dug into the research, I discovered a lot of really I will be the fi rst to admit that part of getting my son his
buy your kid a phone is hotly debated. As I’ve

good reasons to do it. A phone could help me
keep my son safe, keep track of him, and teach
him responsibility, not to mention that technology own phone was an emotional decision. I am an anxious parent
and worry about my son All. The. Time. I am not alone in that.
is an inevitable part of his life. After a lot of con-
Maybe I have listened to too many True Crime podcasts, but
sideration, my partner and I decided to buy my seven-year-old
I think the world is kind of scary, and I want to utilize mobile
an iPhone. Now, I will justify that decision to you.
devices as safety tools.
One of the features that sealed the deal was the iPhone’s Find
REASON 1: CHILDREN ARE My app, which lets me see my son’s location at all times. As I
mentioned, my kid has two homes, visits his grandparents and

MOBILE friends, and eventually wants to be allowed to walk to the library
by himself. He is a guy in transit. A phone allows him a little more
autonomy. When he is with his dad, he can text me goodnight.
One of the reasons we began talking about getting an When he misses his grandma, he texts her a super funny GIF
iPhone for my son is that he is a child of divorce, which means with a husky dog with its nose pressed to the window saying, “I
he has two homes. He spends time with his biological father wuv you.” When he’s eventually allowed to walk to the library, I
each week and sometimes visits his grandparents or has a can play it cool and pretend I am not going to watch his location
playdate. Any of these events require coordination. It is a literally the whole time he is gone. Peace of mind + a little bit of
convenience and a safety precaution for him to have his own trust + location tracking = age-appropriate freedom.
phone.
An iPhone suddenly made my son’s world so much bigger.
Instead of only having access to the people right in front of
him, he can now interact with family and friends outside the
room. He can send pictures of his artwork to his family or
look up a YouTube video about how to bake a cake. So far, my
impression of seven-year-old’s phone usage habits is that they
are adorable and wholesome.

“PEACE OF MIND

+ A LITTLE BIT OF

TRUST + LOCATION

TRACKING =

AGE-APPROPRIATE

FREEDOM.”

I still remember the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting in Newton, Connecticut in 2012. My son was
a newborn at the time. I was holding him in my arms while
he slept and watching as the news broke. I remember crying
because I was so nervous about sending him to school. . . in

78 iPhone Life Spring 2020