Children are getting cellphones at younger and younger ages.
That's according to a report from Common Sense Media based on data from its 2015 and 2021 surveys on children's cellphone and social media use. The research and advocacy organisation found that the proportion of 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds with smartphones nearly doubled in those years. But the majority of parents give their children a cellphone around the ages of 12 and 13. The percentage of 12-year-olds owning a cellphone has leaped from 41% in 2015 to 71% in 2021.