Cell phone for children: at what age, which phone to choose and which package to favor?

Mobile phones and more particularly smartphones have today become the objects with which we have the most interactions on a daily basis.We look at the time, the weather, we entertain ourselves, informs ourselves, about our loved ones and the world, we find the answers to our questions in a few seconds ... According to the most recent studies,We would spend between 3 and 4 hours each day.They integrated our habits and it is therefore normal for children, whose learning is also done by mimicry, also want to have these precious companions in their hands.Toy manufacturers have quickly understood the interest of revisiting smartphones to create versions adapted to the little ones, from baby to young child.

Regarding the real phone, its primary function of means of communication has made it, for parents, an excellent tool to keep in touch at any time with their children and avoid worries.Whether at the request of the latter or at the initiative of the parents, the average age of the first mobile phone is today 9 years and 9 months in France (Mediamétrie survey dating from February 10, 2020)), or from the'primary school.

However, laptops reassure as much as they worry, in particular because of the unlimited access to any type of functions and content they offer when they are connected to the Internet but also their impact on cognitive, physical developmentand social social (blue light, screen, passive over-stimulation of the brain, digital dependence, etc..)).So let's see how to choose the most adequate phone and configuration depending on the age and the use they will be intended.

The mobile phone for children under 6 years old

This period in children is consensus within experts: as the High Council of Public Health indicates in its opinion relating to the effects of the exposure of children and young people to screens, it must be done without screen, orLess with a minimum exhibition between 2 and 5 years old.The task turns out to be very complicated today, while smartphones and tablets seem to be grafted on our hands at any time of the day and that computer screens have also taken an important place with the boom in telework and schooldigital instituted during the health crisis. Même s’ils ne sont pas volontairement placés devant un écran (télévision, smartphone, ordinateur ou même affichage digital publicitaire dans la rue)), l’exposition involontaire paraît inévitable.

Studies concerning the negative effects of mobile screens are numerous but unequal according to the targeted and sometimes contradictory impacts.The scientific literature is however joined on the delay in cognitive development in the very young children, the alteration of the quality of sleep, essential for growth, the training of ocular fatigue but also the appearance of trend to overweight,or even obesity, due to sedentary lifestyle that the use of mobile phones generates.Before 3 years, exposure to screens whatever they are, is thus to be avoided and between 3 and 6 years old, it must be limited to 1 hour daily, in times of awakening and activity, with a “targeted” objectiveand a clearly defined duration with the child, preferably in the presence of an adult who will be able to explain the purpose of this activity to him.

Mobile phones and packages for children aged 7 to 10

It is generally around this age that children acquire their first mobile phone.The computer also joined the learning space, whether at home or at school.Exposure to screens is then a reality but again, it must be limited. Dans le Plan National Nutrition Santé (PNNS)), Santé publique France recommande un temps passé devant les écrans, hors temps scolaire, de 2 heures maximum par jour pour les enfants entre 6 et 11 ans.

The latter do not have the age required to go to social networks and the laptop used mainly to make them reachable, a phone offering only the basic options is largely enough to respond to this need.Even if social pressure can already exist around your child, the smartphone will wait.

You can opt for the same models that have rocked your childhood and have remained references like the Nokia 3310, or others more recent such as the Doro 6060 or 6620, the Altice F2, the Mobiwire Doli or Ogima, theAlcatel 3080g or Wiko Riff 3. En plus d’être à des prix bien moins élevés que les smartphones, ces téléphones évitent l’exposition aux lumières bleues tout en remplissant toutes les fonctions requises pour un outil de communication : émettre et recevoir des appels, envoyer des SMS (parfois des MMS)), enregistrer des contacts, et notamment les contacts d’urgence, dans un répertoire et même certains jeux comme le fameux Snake.

In terms of mobile package, the use of these phones being confined to conventional communication, simple rechargeable cards without commitment are more than enough.From € 5, they generally offer, over a fixed period, a number of calls and unlimited SMS.However, we must think about maintaining them.Small packages, from € 2.99/month depending on the commitment, with many operators also provide minimum service but already include 4G access, useless for these types of phones.Outside “classic” phones, there are models even more particularly limited to children. Le fabricant de jeux éducatifs et d'éveil VTech propose ainsi le KidiCom Max et le Kidicom Advance pour les 3 à 12 ans, des portables “smart” sans abonnement (mais coûteux !)) offrant une interface proche de celle des smartphones pour adultes, une connexion wifi, mais des applications limitées : vidéos, musique, appareil photo, échange de messages, accès à certains sites, et programmes d’apprentissage des maths, du langage, etc.The Briton Ownfone launched in 2012 a 3D printed mobile for children, the elderly and, more recently, the blind, designed on demand and pre -programmable with defined numbers allowing to call and receive calls.

Laptops and packages for pre-teens (11-13 years old))

With the entry to college, the smartphone is democratized, it becomes a communication tool between them and the content they consume there end up being part of their culture and their benchmarks.The mobile phone has such a place in their daily lives that its absence is likely to cause what experts have called "digital exclusion" which socially isolates individuals, often financially helpless, who could not share all these references with theircomrades.

Despite this already dominant place of the phone among the pre-teens, it remains advisable to limit its use, for physical as well as mental reasons because they can be exposed to sensitive content.The High Council of Public Health also extends its recommendation for exposure to screens for a sedentary activity, excluding school times, at 2 hours daily from 6 to 17 years old. Si vous souhaitez offrir à votre enfant son premier smartphone, il peut être intéressant de se tourner vers les modèles d’entrée de gamme (Xiaomi, OPPO, Huawei, Altice)), qui offrent de belles performances sans exploser votre budget, ou encore vers les portables reconditionnés.Non-tactile but intelligent phones and with internet access also creates a gateway between pure mobile, if your child had one, and the full touch screen smartphone.As for the mobile package that accompanies this possible first smartphone, it is better to favor blocked packages that help to empower the child in its consumption.

Smartphones for teens from 13 to 17 years old

It will become difficult to keep your teenager away from a smartphone since it is thanks to him that the majority of exchanges with his friends will.The best is to choose with him/her mobile phone and that everyone can argue their point of view.There is a good chance that the most recent and trendy models make him eye, but they are also the most expensive and they are far from being free from the risk of flight and breakage.There are much less expensive and just as efficient as the latest iPhone and Samsung knowing that the most used applications for this age category are found in all operating systems.

The use of the phone may be much more intensive, despite the limitation rules, and will result in significant data consumption.The mobile plan must take this parameter into account. Si les données aujourd’hui disponibles chez les principaux opérateurs comme Orange, SFR, Bouygues et Free sont très souvent importantes, voire excessives si on maintient un usage limité, même intense (sans compter la possibilité de passer par une connexion wifi)), il reste des forfaits proposant une quantité de Go moindre pour une utilisation raisonnée :

How to protect your child when he/she uses a mobile phone?

Before even evoking purely technological solutions here to protect the youngest as much as possible, a crucial step must accompany the use of a mobile phone: talk to him.At any age, even small, it is necessary for children to understand what a phone is, what it is for and what its use implies.As soon as he/she will be in age to better grasp the subject, evoke the contents sensitive to which he/she could be exposed without wanting and despite your precautions and insist on the importance of coming to see you and speak to you if that happens.

Xooloos'il/She does not have a smartphone, whatever her age, but that you can lend her own to play or watch videos, there are applications to transform your active office into a limited environment,Sure and adapted to a child. C’est notamment le cas de Xooloo App Kids (Android et iOS)) qui crée un espace protégé où toutes les applications non adaptées aux petits (réseaux sociaux, sites d’ecommerce et même les téléchargements d’applis ou de musique)) sont interdites tout en laissant accès aux jeux et autres fonctions sans risquent.It is possible to define upstream time of use to limit exposure to screens and help with reasonable consumption.Note that Xooloo is available in two other applications, one intended for parents, with a system allowing to monitor consumption and the use of their offspring, the other to pre-teens and teenagers, called Xooloo Digital Coach, ininviting them to be actors in their consumption and regulation by regularly sending detailed reports of time spent on each app and the possibility of setting objectives.A good solution to empower young people without them feeling monitored as with other parental control options.

Family Link Google has launched its own application to protect children and adolescents from content that can offend their sensitivity but also to prevent addiction to the use of the smartphone.Available under Android and iOS, Family Link makes it possible to block certain apps, to locate the device, to manage its time of use but above all to establish rules, with the child, with actions and objectives aimed atregulation and promoting dialogue with parents. Là encore, elle se décline en deux versions, selon la cible (parents et enfants)), qui peuvent être connectées.

Parental control of internet operators and providers of internet the protection of young audiences being a crucial issue, ISPs are now obliged to provide free parental control with their mobile package.Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues and others thus offer a “basic” protection system allowing access to access to unsuitable sites, that it is possible to go up in grade on request to add options such as management of thetime, etc.

The rules to be established for reasonable and reasoned use of the phone

As we have seen, communication and transparency with your child is key in good use of the phone.Establish with him/she a moral contract when he/she will have in hand his first phone in order to empower him with a series of rules that will have to be respected, such as: for example:

Bien évidemment, pour que votre enfant intègre et applique ces règles, il est indispensable que les parents les respectent également (et cela ne fera de mal à personne)) !