These days it isn’t uncommon for parents to shove an electronic device in their kids’ faces to keep them quiet during a meal or while running an errand, but believe it or not, there’s a good chance that phone the kid’s using doesn’t actually belong to their parents.
A new survey by musicMagpie finds that about 25% of children six and under actually own their own mobile device, which represents a 300% increase year-over-year in people buying phones for their kids. This number is huge, considering most parents believe 11 is the “ideal” age for kids to get their first smartphone.
As for why parents are buying their kids their own tech, a third say their kid simply asked for it, while 20% did it to keep them entertained.
And while it’s smart for parents to keep limits on how long their kids use their tech, that doesn’t really seem to be happening. The truth is, 80% of parents say they don’t limit the time their kids are on their smartphones, with half of kids six and under spending as much as 21 hours per week on their devices.
Source: Study Finds