A child doesn't need a cell phone, a child needs a cell phone.

Social Pressure vs. Real Developmental Needs

We live in a society where the handing over of the first smartphone has become a social rite of passage.

The pressure is twofold: from the child him/herself ("All my friends have one") and from the parents (the false sense of security of having it located).

This point focuses on challenging this premise: does a child really "need" a cell phone? The answer from a developmental point of view is a resounding "no".

A child does not need a terminal with unlimited access to the Internet, with all the risks that entails (access to pornography, grooming, cyberbullying).

What a child needs for a correct psycho-affective development are much more fundamental things that technology cannot replace: sense of belonging, affection, security, limits and play.

Technology, and the cell phone in particular, has often become an easy substitute for these needs (a "digital pacifier").

What a Child DOES Need: Human Connection and Play

What a child fundamentally needs is real human connection.

He needs the presence of his parents: uninterrupted quality time where he feels seen, heard and valued.

He needs free and unstructured play, preferably outdoors, to develop his creativity, motor skills and ability to negotiate with other children.

The mobile, on the other hand, encourages a sedentary lifestyle and passive reception of stimuli.

He needs clear limits and rules from his caregivers, which provide him with the security of a predictable environment.

He needs to be bored; boredom is the breeding ground for creativity and introspection, and digital devices have eliminated boredom, replacing it with a constant flow of cheap dopamine.

You need the hours of sleep you need, something that nightly screen use directly interferes with.

Delay Delivery and Offer Alternatives.

This approach is not technophobic, but "technoprudent."

It advocates delaying the delivery of the smartphone (the cell phone with internet and social networking) as long as possible.

Brain maturity to manage impulses, social pressure and the moral complexity of the internet is not fully achieved until well into adolescence.

If the need is for communication or location, there are alternatives to the smartphone: a basic phone (calls and SMS only) or a smart watch with GPS and calls limited to famil