Smartphone yes, smartphone right? And at what age is it right to give it to your children? It is a question to which science has been trying to answer for some time, and studies agree in affirming that it is better later rather than too early.
Now a new research on the theme published on Journal of the Human Development and Capability He claims that giving a minimum of a minimum in the hands of a minimum of a mobile phone could compromise his mental health, and that therefore the best choice is to wait (at least) beyond that age.
The damage of early use. The study, conducted on over 100,000 boys between 18 and 24 years old, found a greater probability that those who had received their first cell phone at 12 years old or before had suicide thoughts, were aggressive, detached from reality, did not know how to regulate their emotions and had a low self -esteem.
In particular, the girls who had received the cell phone before the age of 13 were less self -esteem and self -confidence, and be more fragile from an emotional point of view (perhaps – this is our hypothesis – in this case social media with their apparently perfect users could have a part of the responsibility); The boys, on the other hand, were less empathetic, less calm, less stable emotionally and with less self -esteem.
A necessary reflection. Although the results are in line with what has been discovered by science so far and trace a rather clear and alarming picture of the situation, it is important to underline the limits of the study, which is based on data reported by the participants themselves and not verified by the authors and which has not identified which uses of the smartphone have influenced the results.
Tara Thiagarajan, research coordinator, however, asks politicians from all over the world to seriously reflect on what has been discovered and make serious decisions: “We encourage politicians to adopt a precautionary approach, similar to that of alcohol and tobacco laws, limiting access to smartphones for minors of 13 years, imposing digital education and forcing companies to take their responsibilities”.
