Abstracto

Children (7-12 years) having fun with mobile phones

Karen Moyse

Children (7-12 years) love their mobile phones. Many media and research sources demonstrate parents’ and professionals’ concerns about children using them. Yet, there can be times when mobiles are vital for children’s safety and development. Without mobile phones children would not be able to enjoy many of the freedoms they experience today; helping them to discover new environments and social relationships. New opportunities can emerge with support of the mobile phone. For example, existing and new friendships can be nurtured by communicating with friends regularly. Further, children can actively go out and do things with their friends supported by the mobile phone, as their parents know they can be contacted. This article will discuss some of the more positive aspects of children using mobile phones, which may sometimes be overlooked. Obviously, it is important that children learn how to use these devices safely, thus avoiding risks and learning how to deal with risks. This article is an adapted version of a paper presented at the Global Nursing Practice Conference Barcelona, Spain, 2019 (Moyse, 2019a).