Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm Shane Morris.

Every parent of tweens or teens will likely hear these words at some point.

When can I have a phone?

All my friends have them.

Countless parents have given into this line, putting internet-connected devices into their child's hands, often

devices with no meaningful parental controls, all because of social pressure.

They think that if they don't, their child will be an outcast or just left behind the techno

curve.

If that's you and you're thinking of giving in, there are some facts you should know.

First and foremost, many parents say they regret

giving their kids smartphones and tablets, while almost none say they regret not giving them these devices.

Writing recently in the New York Times, psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt, together with

Will Johnson and Zach Rauch, described their findings in a national survey of parents and teens.

Almost a third of parents whose children have access to social media and nearly a quarter

whose children have smartphones, say, with a benefit of hindsight, that they gave them these

things too young. By contrast, just 1% of parents said they wish they'd given their kids social media

and smartphones earlier. In other words, parents regret the technologies they gave, not the

technologies they withheld. Incredibly, kids who grow up with smart devices feel the same regret

about technology, if anything, more strongly than their parents.

In their previous survey conducted by Harris Poll, height and colleagues found that 30% of Gen Z adults agreed with the statement, I had access to smartphones too early in life.

Over a third said the same about social media.

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