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A non-profit group called Look Up Hong Kong is asking parents not to give smartphones to their children until they are 14. A survey shows that more than half of young children between the ages of six and 10 in the city already have one.
At the same time, the city’s government is currently reviewing how excess screen time affects children.
Look Up Hong Kong released its survey findings last month. The online survey, conducted in July, polled 651 parents with children attending primary or secondary school in Hong Kong.
Fifty-two per cent of parents said their children between the ages of six and 10 already had a smartphone. For teens 14 years old or older, 98 per cent have a smartphone.
Many children received their first smartphones when they were nine years old.
Studies show that when young children use smartphones and social media too much, it harms their well-being.
Robert Broad, the founder of Look Up Hong Kong, said parents should lead by example. He encouraged parents to keep dinner times device-free, ban smartphones and other devices from the bedroom and turn off notifications or delete social apps from their own phones.
