Kiddo has had his own cell phone from the beginning so we could fill it up with educational apps but it also didnt have a phone number attached to it until he was about 10 when we had to be apart more.
If we had to be apart at an earlier age, i woupd have given him his own number even earlier on for safety reasons.
BUT we always had a rule that he was no allowed to post on the internet or on the phone to anyone outside of us without showing us thr message first.
One year when he was 11 or 12 i let up on that rule until I was furious to find one day that he had picked a rather rude fight with some rather mean people on one of the online games. So he lost priveleges to that gane and once again i became hard core that he couldnt send any messages out unless preapproved.
But slowly over time, i realized he had learned his lesson and that he was being mindful and most times i only glance long enough to tell its some technical jardin that is over my head anyways or just let him tell me with half an ear open to listen for any red flags.
Point is as long as you are checking, ANY age works.
its better for them to learn early how to handle 'online' etiquette through you then learn the hard way as a teenager or as an adult.
You can always put a limit on internet time or youtibe restrictions or even text restrictions and what numbers they can call or just not even give them a number at all. Whike still having access to educational apps.
Just CHECK the phone daily or at least biweekly to make sure they havent hacked your system or loaded up inaprropriaye things.
And if they did, instead of going balistic, Discuss with them WHY..
use it to teach them the etiquette you want them to learn and follow
In response to friend asking at what age should kids have access to cell phones.
April 02 2020 not 2018 anymore.
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