Dr. Susannah Stern: A cell phone from Santa?

Interview opportunity available: 

Friday, December 4, from 2-4 p.m. ET

In a recent survey, 43 percent of parents said they felt pressured to get their child a smartphone sooner than they wanted. But when, exactly, is the best time for kids to get one?

Available expert: 

Dr. Susannah Stern is a professor of communication studies at the University of San Diego. She can discuss topics including:

• Trends in children’s smartphone ownership, including when kids typically receive their first phones and how smartphone access varies by age;
• Factors that contribute to pressure to get kids a phone, and how parents navigate competing priorities when deciding whether their children are ready for smartphones;
• What research tells us about the potential risks of smartphone use, including concerns about sleep, mental health, academic performance, cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful content;
• Potential benefits of smartphone ownership, including safety, independence, and social connection;
• Her research on collective action approaches such as the “Wait Until 8th” movement, which asks parents to collectively pledge to delay giving children a smartphone until the end of 8th grade; and
• Strategies for helping before and after children receive their first phones, including ongoing parent-child communication, media literacy, and age-appropriate boundaries.