How old were you when you got your first smartphone?<\/p>\n
For many Aussies born in the past two generations, such as Ekaager, 16, Kian, 15, Daiwik, 16, and Jiujiu, 15, smartphones have been a part of life since early childhood.<\/p>\n
“I think I was 12 or 11, around that age,” Ekaager said.<\/p>\n
Kian said: “I think I was like 10 or 11.”<\/p>\n
“I was definitely 12,” Daiwik said.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, something like 12,” Jiujiu said.<\/p>\n
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Jiujiu, Daiwik, Kian and Ekaager say they received smartphones when they were 11 or 12. (BTN High)<\/p>\n
A global 2024 study commissioned by tech company Human Mobile Devices (HMD) found that young people were being given smartphones at an average age of 11 years old.<\/p>\n
In some cases, smartphones were being introduced as young as three years old.<\/p>\n
This early introduction to smartphones has “dramatically reshaped childhood and adolescence”, according to\u00a0new research<\/a> published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.<\/p>\n Using survey data from more than 100,000 18 to 24-year-olds, researchers found that the younger those surveyed got a smartphone, from the age of 13 and under, the worse their mental health was.<\/p>\n The specific symptoms reported included suicidal thoughts, aggression and detachment from reality.<\/p>\n When asked what they thought about the findings, the teens BTN High spoke to said it made sense.<\/p>\n “Especially because a lot of the platforms I use, like Instagram, can be a little addictive \u2026 it’s hard for me to put it down,” Lily, 15, said.<\/p>\n Lily says she finds social media platforms can be addictive. (BTN High)<\/p>\n “I remember in year 10 I was really at my lowest and I think that social media was the significant contributing factor to it,” Eric, 17, said.<\/p>\n Harsimrat, 15, said it was not just the mental health impacts.<\/p>\n “There are many issues like attention span,” he said.<\/p>\n “Because even myself, sometimes in class, I just doze off because I just can’t spend that much time looking at the board.”<\/p>\n Delaying smartphone ‘sensible’<\/p>\n Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg led a review into phone use in schools in 2018, which has since resulted in a nationwide ban on phones in public schools.<\/p>\n Michael Carr-Gregg says it’s sensible to delay giving young people smartphones until they are 13. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Dr Carr-Gregg said that while the study’s results were new, it was something experts had suspected.<\/p>\n “I think it was 2007, the Apple iPhone was launched, we started replacing a play-based childhood with a screen-based childhood,” he said.<\/p>\n “And right across the western world \u2026 we have seen an increase in depression and anxiety and self-harm.<\/p>\n “Therefore, this is just a confirmation of what we already knew.”<\/p>\n The study also recommends “graduated access restrictions,” keeping anyone under 13 from having a smartphone, which Dr Carr-Gregg approves of.<\/p>\n “Smartphones tend to be a distraction. They do interfere with sleep,” he said.<\/p>\n “They do create, I think, avenues for cyberbullying, extortion, those sorts of things.<\/p>\n “So, for me, the result is from the university of the bleeding obvious, which is why I think a restriction, a delay, on young people having smartphones is sensible.”<\/p>\n Some of the teens BTN High spoke to also agreed it was a good idea.<\/p>\n Lachlan, 15, said: “It’s just probably for the better in future life.”<\/p>\n Angus doesn’t agree with an under-13s ban while Harsimrat says dumbphones belong in the “old days”. (BTN High)<\/p>\n Others, like Angus, 16, weren’t keen on it.<\/p>\n “Thirteen is past that age where we \u2026 enter high school,” he said.<\/p>\n “I feel like phones are a big part of socialising and that sort of connection that many people rely on.<\/p>\n “So I think it’s a bit harsh.”<\/p>\n Some teens turn to ‘dumbphones’<\/p>\n A “dumbphone”, also known as a feature phone, is a basic device with limited functionality.<\/p>\n The Australians switching to ‘dumbphones’<\/a><\/p>\n With mobile phone use on the rise, people of various ages are turning to simpler devices.<\/p>\n No internet browsing, no apps, no complex multimedia functions \u2013 and that’s the appeal for some young people, such as 18-year-old Jameson Butler.<\/p>\n She is the co-founder of The Luddite Club, a group of teens in New York dedicated to promoting the conscious consumption of technology.<\/p>\n “My sleep schedule was off the charts,” Jameson said.<\/p>\n “I was staying up until 3am. I was staying in my room, you know, on my phone.<\/p>\n Jameson Butler says she has become more focused since ditching her smartphone. (BTN High)<\/p>\n “And I just felt bad \u2026 I didn’t feel there were any options or ways to combat that.”<\/p>\n Jameson said after ditching her smartphone, life improved.<\/p>\n “Honestly, since I’ve gotten rid of my smartphone, I definitely spend more quality time with my family,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n she said.<\/p>\n “I’m more present at family dinners. I do my schoolwork faster, I have better grades, I’ve become a lot less scatterbrained, and I’ve just become a lot more driven and ambitious.”<\/p>\n Living without a smartphone in New York<\/a><\/p>\n What do 19th-century textile workers and teenage New Yorkers have in common?<\/p>\n The Luddite Club has been gaining popularity.<\/p>\n Jameson told the\u00a0ABC’s Brain Rot Podcast<\/a> that she was seeing Luddite Clubs starting to pop up in Florida and Philadelphia, and she had even had some enquiries from Australia.<\/p>\n While the\u00a0dumbphone trend has been growing<\/a> in the US and Europe, I want to find out if it is something young Aussies are doing too.<\/p>\n BTN High wasn’t able to find anyone at The University of Adelaide who used a dumbphone. (BTN High)<\/p>\n After sitting at the University of Adelaide for more than an hour, no young people I spoke to even knew of anyone who used a dumbphone.<\/p>\n “Yeah, this is too old,” said one student.<\/p>\n Harsimrat agreed, saying, “No, that’s back in the old days.”<\/p>\n None of Dr Carr-Gregg’s clients are on board either.<\/p>\n “I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I don’t have one who’s doing that,” he said.<\/p>\n “Once you’ve got a smartphone, I think the likelihood of you going back to a dumbphone is very, very small.<\/p>\n Michael Carr-Gregg says he doesn’t know any young people reverting back from a smartphone. (Unsplash: Alex Ware)<\/p>\n “And that’s because really the way in which my clients communicate with one another these days is through social media.<\/p>\n “And therefore the smartphone is absolutely essential.”<\/p>\n Alex, 17, said a loss of connection might be putting young Aussies off.<\/p>\n “I think there’s a big fear of missing out,” he said.<\/p>\n “It’s like if people aren’t connected with their screens and social media and stuff, they \u2026 can’t see what other people are posting, [what] they’re doing on it.<\/p>\n Alex says FOMO is a factor for young people while Eric says social media contributed to a low period for him. (BTN High)<\/p>\n “A lot of my friends live in different places throughout the world, and I wouldn’t be able to call them on a phone like that,” Lily said.<\/p>\n What about the social media ban?<\/p>\n Despite social media being a major part of smartphone use, some teens, such as Alex, reckon Australia’s incoming ban for under-16s<\/a> won’t change too many minds.<\/p>\n “There are other things you can do on [smartphones], like games and stuff, even though you don’t have social media,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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