“Nearly all U.S. kids under age 4 have used a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone, and they are using them at earlier and earlier ages, a new study finds.” ( Haelle) Today most children can pick up a phone and easily figure out how to work it. What most parents do not realize is the danger of letting their kid play on a phone or have a phone.  Do not give elementary school-aged children smartphones because it affects a child's brain and can cause long lasting effects.

Many people do not realize that Cell phones have warning signs.  The cell phone warning signs are generally designed for adults who have bigger heads.  Children’s heads weigh about half of an adults and is in more danger of the radiation a phone emits, said Devra Lee Davis, founder of the Environmental Health Trust.  Something also very dangerous about giving cellphones to younger children is that their eyes are more sensitive to electronics. Staring at the screen of a phone for long periods of time can cause high chronical arousal levels which impact memory and ability to relate.  Kids with these symptoms will most likely be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression, and ADHD.  Screen time on a phone can serious mood changes which can affect communication. Multiple studies have shown gray matter atrophy, which is the shrinkage or loss of tissue volume in gray matter area (where processing occurs). ( Deardorff)  The ability to process information is necessary to be able to communicate with others; the definition of communication according to the webster dictionary is the imparting or exchanging of information or news.  To be able to impart news you also had to have been able to process what kind of news it was and who you should communicate it to.  Less screen time is the way to go to keep children happy, healthy, and spending more time with people and less on cell phones.

On the other hand, many disagree that cell phones are harmful but that they are beneficial to children.  Children are constantly busy, as some would say,” busy as a bee.” When children are out and about cell phones can give parents the reassurance that if their child would be in danger they would be able to contact them for help.  For example, parents can track their kids with an app on their phones to know the exact location of their child every minute of the day. Cell Phones can also be used in the classroom as a learning tool.  Studies show that 53% of 6 year olds have a cellphone and use it daily.  In an era with fewer dollars that are available for classroom supplies it would be smart of teachers to use the technology that elementary students already have to benefit the children’s education.  Parents can use cell phones as tools to make their children more responsible.  By creating a reward/punishment system they can take away or give the phone to the kid depending on if they were responsible or not.

Elementary children do not need smartphones because it damages their developing bodies by radiation, causing high chronic levels impacting memory and ability to relate, and the shrinking of tissue in the brain. Parents will feel better knowing that their children are healthy and safer without a cellphone. Cell phones are dangerous and harmful to a child’s brain which is why elementary children should not have cell phones.