They are 8, 10 or 12 years old… and already have a smartphone in their pocket. Today, entry into the digital world occurs earlier and earlier, often without a clear framework.
The average age of acquiring a first smartphone continues to fall, while the time spent on social networks is exploding among younger people. In France, the public authorities themselves are concerned: since 2018, the use of smartphones has been prohibited at school for children under 15 years old.
Faced with this reality, a question arises: how can we support children in their first digital uses without exposing them too early to all connected services?
Screens now occupy a central place in the daily lives of young people and entry into the digital world occurs ever earlier, often before children have the necessary benchmarks to master its uses. The numbers speak for themselves. According to data from a European observatory dedicated to the digital uses of families(1), 90% of minors already use a device connected to the Internet and three out of four adolescents own a smartphone before the age of 13. Even more worrying, almost one in two adolescents admit to having lost control of the time they spend in front of screens, while one in four use their phone as an escape to forget their difficulties.
What if entry into digital technology no longer systematically came via the smartphone?
The problem is not so much the technology itself, it is the uses it promotes. Social networks, designed to capture attention, expose children to unsuitable content, constant comparison and powerful addictive mechanisms. Studies show that intensive use is associated with loss of concentration, sleep disturbances, increasing anxiety, etc. Based on this observation, French legislation now imposes strict supervision, those under 15 must obtain parental consent to register on social networks, with age verification obligations for the platforms.
However, parents also need simple solutions to stay in touch with their children, reassure them and support them in their autonomy as well as in digital learning.
In this context, children’s connected watches with GPS make sense. Unlike the smartphone, the connected watch refocuses usage on the essentials: staying in touch easily and being able to locate quickly. Calls, voice messages, GPS… without access to social networks or uncontrolled content. An everyday object, designed for children, which limits risks while meeting the needs of families. This approach is also in line with the logic of the French legislator, who has required since 2022 the integration of parental controls by default on all connected devices.
This approach is not about delaying progress, but about adapting technology to the child’s development.
Delaying the arrival of the first smartphone by a few years, without cutting the child off from his or her environment, is now an option seriously considered by many families. The connected watch constitutes an intermediate step towards digital technology: it allows children to gradually gain autonomy, while limiting their exposure to social networks and guaranteeing the security and privacy of families with the hosting of all data in European servers.
In a world where hyperconnection has become the norm, it is becoming urgent to rethink the digital education of young people. The real responsibility of digital players, public authorities and families is now to ensure that this first encounter with technology is a progressive learning process rather than an early exposure to the most addictive mechanisms.
(1) SaveFamily Observatory: Reconnect to values
