I was extremely skeptical when senior technology correspondent Adam Clark Estes told me that even as schools and parents grow increasingly worried about kids and smartphones, some technology experts actually recommend introducing them at an even earlier age. How young? One Oxford professor says that he gave his kids smartphones at 3 years old. Three!! No, he didn’t unbox an iPhone, connect it to the internet, and let them have at it. Instead, it was an incredibly intentional process — first, the phone only functioned as a digital photo album; gradually over time, his kids got access to the camera, audiobooks, music, and ultimately texting. Am I 100 percent convinced? Not quite yet, but this piece gave me a lot to think about.
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—Naureen Khan, senior editor of culture and features
