Best friends Georgia Dinnison and Gracie Lovelock love having their own smartphones. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: News Limited
- 35 per cent of kids have their own mobile
- Parents 'forget smartphones are mini-laptops'
- Experts warn of social media predators
ONE in three primary school children now have their own mobile and kids as young as eight are carrying smartphones.
The sharp increase in mobile phone ownership amongst children has resulted in cyber safety experts calling for parents to ditch smart phones for "dumb phones''.
New research by the Australian Communications and Media Authority - obtained exclusively by News Limited - shows 35 per cent of children aged eight to 11 now owns a mobile phone, a figure which has almost doubled since 2007.
Mobile phones have also saturated the teenage demographic with 94 per cent of 16 and 17-year olds now owning a phone.
Key findings from the report, due to be officially released in June, have raised concerns among security experts who say many parents are unaware of the cyber safety issues surrounding children's mobile phone use.
Sydney cyber safety expert Leonie Smith, who runs regular mobile phone safety workshops in Australian schools, said parents still tended to think of mobiles as devices for talking and texting, forgetting smartphones are virtually miniature laptops.
Ms Smith said most parents were unaware of the dangers children are exposed to through smartphones such as viruses, data thieves and social media predators.
"What I normally recommend is if you've got a kid under 13 don't buy them a smartphone if you can avoid it, get them what I call a 'dumb phone' - a phone that makes calls and does SMS only,'' she said.
"Think very carefully about why you want your child to have a smartphone; if you can have the same result using just a regular mobile phone that only texts and makes calls then I would say if they're under 13 go for that.''
A recent survey of parents by online security firm Trend Micro shows while 67 per cent of Australian parents have bought their school-aged child a smartphone, most do not give any thought to cyber safety concerns.
Trend Micro cyber safety expert Aman Chand said while 85 per cent of parents had some sort of security software on their kids' laptops, only 22 per cent had anything on their smartphones.
"That's a big concern because everything you can do on a laptop you can do on a smartphone as well,'' he said.
Mr Chand said plummeting prices and a greater availability of prepaid mobile plans were tempting more parents to buy their children smartphones without carefully thinking through the cyber safety implications.
Mr Chand recommended parents establish a set of rules around their children's use of phones, such as having to charge it in a family area at night instead of the bedroom.
"Make sure the smartphone isn't allowed to go into their bedrooms at night, definitely put parental controls on it, and really build education and speak to the child,'' he said.
Eleven-year old Gracie of Brighton, in Adelaide, has been using a mobile for four months after receiving a hand-me-down iPhone from mum Paula Brinkworth for Christmas.
Ms Brinkworth, a public relations manager, said Gracie's 13-year-old brother also had a phone so the family can easily keep in touch.
"It is quite handy if I need to text them, or they can text me after school if something changes with sport or pick up arrangements, it is quite helpful to know they've got their phone on them,'' she said.
"I feel more at ease knowing she's carrying her mobile on her."
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