Access to the internet can support young people’s education and social activities, as well as helping parents keep track of their whereabouts.
But, some experts warn it contributes to shorter attention spans, exposes children to harmful content, and displaces other activities such as playing outside or talking to friends.
EE said under-11s should be given phones that can be used to text and make calls, but without access to the internet or social media apps like TikTok and Youtube.
The firm, which is marketing a phone with limited capabilities for children, suggests parents use apps and settings to monitor older children’s internet usage.
Its corporate affairs director Mat Sears said EE wanted to help parents and caregivers “make the best choices for their children”.
He told the BBC: “Under-11s we feel should not be given access to smartphones. They don’t need the usage of a smartphone and, actually, a feature phone – or a dumb phone, as some people call them – is more suitable.”
Almost a quarter of five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone, recent research from the telecoms regulator Ofcom found.
By age 11, when children typically transfer to secondary school, almost all have a phone of some kind, it says.
Ofcom described its research, published earlier this year, as a “wake-up call” after it found over half of under-13s were using social media, despite most of the big platforms having rules requiring that users are over 13.
Mr Sears said he believed smartphones were appropriate for children aged between 11 and 13 – but not access to social media.
For 13-to-16-year-olds, he advised parents to exercise “care and attention” over which social media apps they download.
“We think it’s absolutely fine and okay for social media to be used [by over-13s] but various parental controls and privacy settings should be put in place, as well as screen locks for the amount of time that is being placed on these various social media sites.”
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