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Why is it recommended that children should not be given a smartphone until they are 14 and should not be allowed access to social media platforms until they are 16?

There must be a reason why top managers from Silicon Valley do not allow their own children to have a smartphone until they are 14 or even older. In fact, there are many reasons that parents should be aware of.

Many child psychologists, pediatricians and media experts advise waiting until at least the age of 14 before giving children a smartphone. The reason is that children are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to the temptations and dangers of digital technologies and the internet.

Smartphones are changing childhood

Childhood changes as soon as a child has their own smartphone. There is less time for playing outside, being creative, reading, exercising, spending time with friends and family, or simply being bored, as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and computer games seem much more appealing. If a child spends time in front of a screen every day, important childhood experiences are lost.

From a neurobiological point of view, however, it has been proven how crucial it is for children to learn basic skills for their entire lives: understanding language, facial expressions and gestures, recognising and regulating emotions, gaining motor and physical experiences, and developing social skills such as empathy, having different perspectives, conflict resolution and communication. These skills develop primarily through free, self-determined play, real interaction with other people, and engagement with the environment and nature.

Smartphones are addictive

It has been proven that using a smartphone can trigger the same addictive brain reactions as alcohol, drugs or gambling addiction. In 2019, the WHO therefore included online gaming addiction (gaming disorder) in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11-WHO). The WHO thus recognises online gaming addiction as a separate disease, which is treated in the same way as alcohol dependence, for example.

However, the addictive potential is not limited to digital games. Social media and other apps are also designed technically and algorithmically to promote habituation and dependency effects. Mechanisms such as ‘endless scrolling’ or FOMO (‘fear of missing out’) lead users to reach for their smartphones increasingly often and for longer periods of time.

As a result, smartphones become constant companions and increasingly take up time that could be spent on other important experiences, social interaction and learning. Many adults are familiar with these effects from their own experience. However, children and young people are particularly at risk because their brains and impulse control are still developing and they are much less able to resist stimuli in a controlled manner.

You can find out more about this in the audiobook ‘Achtung Smartphone’ by Manfred Spitzer or in the → articles and → lectures (and → here)by Tristan Harris, who also contributed to the highly recommended Netflix documentary → ‘The Social Dilemma’.

Smartphones are a constant distraction and increase concentration problems

Primary school and lower and middle school form the basis for children's academic success. The constant distraction caused by smartphones and the multitasking that usually goes with them (doing homework while responding to messages on social media, liking posts, listening to music, checking emails) reduces attention span and the ability to concentrate. Whenever it rings, vibrates or lights up, the smartphone pulls us out of our train of thought, causing us to interrupt what we are doing or saying. Each of these interruptions costs time. Once torn away, most people find it difficult to concentrate on their original task again. However, the ability to concentrate fully on one thing is a fundamental prerequisite for a successful school career, a completed apprenticeship or a successful degree.

Smartphones have a negative impact on academic performance

Studies have shown that smartphone use has a negative impact on academic performance and that academic performance improves when mobile phones are not allowed. In a large-scale study at a London university, economists evaluated the grades of 130,000 students who were banned from using mobile phones at school at some point over a ten-year period. This study showed that students' grades improved significantly within a year of the smartphone ban being introduced. The study also showed that poorer students were particularly affected by this effect and were able to improve their performance the most. (Source: ‘Achtung Smartphone’ by Manfred Spitzer)

Original study

➡️ Beland & Murphy (2015). Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction & Student Performance

Smartphones and the associated use of social media interfere with the development of a healthy identity and stable self-esteem

Young people's self-esteem is particularly vulnerable between the ages of 10 and 14. Their identity develops during this phase. Social media tempts them to focus heavily on their appearance and compare themselves with others. ‘Likes’ and followers become the currency of recognition on which self-esteem stands or falls. Studies now show that, especially for girls, constant comparison with others causes a negative self-image, which is also significantly linked to the development of eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, etc.). In this context, it is not surprising that young people are willing to post increasingly extreme photos and take on increasingly extreme challenges to stay ahead in the competition for attention and followers. This sometimes goes so far that they even put their lives at risk.

Original study

➡️ Bennet et al. (2025). Appearance Pressure From the Media Mediates the Relationship Between Internalised Weight Bias and Eating Disorder Risk for Young Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Social media leads to constant stress

Children are not emotionally capable of navigating problematic social media at such a young age. Viewing (edited) photos or posts on social networks often leads young people and children to think that they are missing out (FOMO = fear of missing out) or performing poorly compared to their peers. This leads to constant stress. Research shows that the more time one spends on social networks, the greater the likelihood of depression. If children use technology excessively, the constant stimulation of the brain leads to an increase in the hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol makes a child restless and nervous. This can lead to anxiety disorders. In an interview with The Guardian, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently stated that he forbids his own nephew from accessing social media. 

Smartphones disrupt relationships and inhibit the learning of social behaviour

Many parents later regret allowing their child to have a smartphone because they see how it disrupts their parent-child relationship. Children are often inattentive due to the constant distraction caused by the device. Real personal relationships wither away as children invest their time and energy in their online friendships instead. In many families, smartphones are a constant source of conflict. Studies have shown that the use of social media by children and young people has a negative impact on the learning of social behaviour and leads to a reduction in empathy. At the same time, studies have shown that satisfaction with one's own social relationships decreases. (Source: ‘Achtung Smartphone’ by Manfred Spitzer) 

Youth protection fails on the internet

jugendschutz.net, the joint competence centre of the federal and state governments for the protection of children and young people on the internet, stated in its report published in 2019 that popular websites used by children lack comprehensive security concepts. Providers do not carry out effective age checks. Reporting options for violations are cumbersome to use and ineffective, and operators (often based abroad) often do not remove content that is harmful or detrimental to young people, even when such content is reported. Children's accounts with preconfigured safety settings are completely absent (https://www.jugendschutz.net/fileadmin/daten/publikationen/lageberichte/bericht_2019_kinder_im_netz.pdf).

Former Federal Minister for Family Affairs Dr Franziska Giffey therefore called for the following in this context:

Children must be better protected online. The report by jugendschutz.net shows this very clearly. It is unacceptable that providers do not take safety precautions, leaving children unprotected and exposed to the dangers and threats that exist on the internet – be it sexual harassment, threats, intimidation or financial exploitation.

Smartphones expose children to sexual content

According to Innocence in Danger e.V. (a global movement against child sexual abuse, particularly the distribution of child pornography through new media), almost one in ten young people today has already received unwanted pornographic or violent images or films. This usually happens via private messages in chats, messengers and communities. Parents rarely find out about this. Furthermore, pornography on the internet is accessible to anyone anonymously at any time. However, children not only view sexual content on their mobile phones, but they also create it. Recent media reports show that AI tools such as Grok make it possible to transform harmless images of children into nude images. Legal proceedings and investigations by the European Commission are ongoing. More children are engaging in ‘sexting’ (sending sexual text messages and/or explicit images). 

Smartphones enable cybergrooming

Cybergrooming refers to adults attempting to persuade minors to perform sexual acts on themselves or others in front of a webcam, send nude pictures of themselves, or even arrange real-life meetings. According to the Independent Commissioner of the Federal Government for Issues of Child Sexual Abuse, more than 15% of children up to the age of 14 have already experienced sexual harassment on the internet. Sexual assaults usually take place via private messages in chats, messengers or communities. Initial contact is often made via online games or social media. Victims of sexual harassment usually find it difficult to disclose what has happened. As a result, parents often find out much too late or not at all.  

Smartphones enable access to content harmful to minors

The internet is full of content harmful to minors, which children and young people can access easily, free of charge and anonymously. This ranges from forums and communities that promote and idealise eating disorders, self-harm (e.g. cutting) or suicide, to sites that trivialise drugs and advertise or offer ‘legal highs’, to forums that promote Islamism or right-wing extremism. Such content can encourage children and young people who are already interested in these topics to behave in a certain way and inspire them to imitate what they see. Time and again, challenges (e.g. on TikTok) that put children's lives at risk make the headlines. In 2021, two children (aged 10 and 12) have already died because of so-called blackout challenges. 

Smartphones expose children to the risk of cyberbullying

Bullying is no longer confined to the school playground or changing rooms. It is now commonplace in all services that enable communication. The most common medium for cyberbullying is the smartphone. Photos and videos are quickly taken and even more quickly distributed on the internet to an unmanageable group of recipients. Once published on the internet, defamatory content is almost impossible to control or delete. Only one in ten victims informs a parent or trusted adult about the attack.

Smartphones endanger children in traffic

When our children stare at their smartphones instead of paying attention to traffic, they are putting their lives at risk. This applies to pedestrians as well as cyclists. Nevertheless, every day we see children and young people riding their bikes with one hand while busy with their mobile phones or crossing streets as ‘smombies,’ thereby endangering themselves and others. 

Technology executives ban smartphones for their children

According to an article in the New York Times, many leading technology managers wait until their children are 14 before allowing them to have a smartphone. These teenagers can make calls and send texts, but they do not get internet access until later. In 2019, a group of leading employees and investors from Facebook and Google in the US joined forces to warn of the dangers posed by technology companies to our children and society. When leading figures from digital giants such as Google, eBay, Apple and Yahoo are postponing the use of smartphones, shouldn't that give us pause for thought? Executives who profit from the success of technology are protecting their own children from smartphones. Shouldn't we do the same?