Shocking new study reveals the real age kids should get their first phone

Families everywhere know the familiar dinner-table debate. A child insists, “Everyone in my class has a phone. Why don’t I?” Parents feel torn between wanting to protect their kids and wanting them to fit in. It feels like a modern milestone. But a new research project, known as the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, is urging parents to pause before handing over a smartphone too early.

This long-running study followed thousands of children across the United States and found a striking pattern. Kids who owned a smartphone before age 12 were more likely to face sleep issues, weight gain and higher levels of anxiety or depression by their early teens. The study does not say that the phone alone causes these problems. It shows that early access changes a child’s daily rhythm in ways that slowly add up.

Children who got phones early tended to sleep less because late-night scrolling is tempting even for adults, let alone pre-teens. Their physical activity dropped as screens quietly replaced outdoor play and idle, creative time. The online world also brought social pressures that younger children are not fully equipped to handle. Group chats, comparison posts and constant alerts can feel overwhelming when a child is still figuring out their emotional boundaries.

The underlying point is not that smartphones are harmful by default. It is that timing matters. Children under 12 are still learning important self-regulation skills. They are still figuring out how to pause, how to switch off and how to separate their sense of self from what they see online. When a smartphone arrives too early, these skills do not get enough room to grow.