It's absolutely a parental anxiety thing for many/most. Parents are anxious about things like:

1. Fear of the unknown--not knowing where their child is or what they are doing, leading them to give a phone as a way to track their whereabouts.

2. Social pressure: worried that your children need a phone to fit in. This gets mentioned on CB a lot actually. Parents don't see themselves say it, but they talk about the social pressure.

3. Overprotection: Where parents try to shield their children from any potential risks by constantly monitoring them through their phone.


In your case, I might ask ... why not have your kid borrow a phone from an adult? Usually because we feel bad imposing on other parents, and it makes us feel cheap and like we're ignoring our kid and pawning them off on others. Also, it makes our kids uncomfortable, and we don't like seeing them uncomfortable. That's usually the reason for most parents.

Maybe that's not you, but I'd still ask, Ignore that it's cheap... is it GOOD for your kid to have a phone (even a watch)? A smartwatch would still provide some of the distraction problems of a real phone, and some of the "I'm being monitored" psychological problems, leading to increased anxiety for kids.

I'm actually teaching on this subject tomorrow in class, so all of this is front of mind for me right now.

Another good book on this is Stolen Focus that talks more about the problems of smart devices impairing our attention/focus. Anxious Generation talks about their effects on our anxiety and depression.