Bill Gates explains the ‘safest’ age to give a kid a cellphone

Tech billionaire Bill Gates shares insights on the minimum age which children should be allowed cellphones.

Experts and parents are claiming that children spend too much time on screens, as once you give a child their own smartphone, there's basically no turning back.

And considering how much time young minds will spend on the screen, it's worth putting serious thought into what age is appropriate to get a child a mobile device.

Bill Gates, whose children are now aged 27, 24, and 21, reveals he didn't give his 'kids cell phones until they were 14'.

Bennett Raglin / Stringer / Getty

Though this age may seem harsh to some parents, a Kids & Tech report found that 'the average age a child gets their first smartphone is now 10.3 years'. This may alarm some!

Whilst The University of Birmingham establishes that there is no 'magic age' for a child to get a smartphone, data suggests a good time to aim for is when children reach early adolescence. So basically, around secondary or high school age.

14 is the age that children are typically in high school, so Gates isn't far off the supporting data.

However, Stacy DeBroff - chief executive of Influence Central - believes this minimum age will drop even lower because 'parents are getting tired of handing their smartphones to their kids'.

When his children reached the age of having cellphones, Gates revealed he was quite traditional with his parenting measures, in that they weren't allowed phones at the table, only for the purpose of homework or studying. Funnily enough, he even prohibited his children from using Apple products in the household due to his historical rivalry with Steve Jobs.

Data suggests children shouldn't be permitted a cellphone until 'early adolescence / Mirko Sajkov / Pixabay

The Microsoft co-founder also imposed a cap on screen time when his daughter started showing signs of video gaming addiction back in 2007.

Unsurprisingly though, other tech billionaires have enforced similar tech restrictions on their children.

For instance, Apple CEO Steve Jobs refused to let his children use the newly-released iPad. In his own words, 'we limit how much technology our kids use at home.'

Meanwhile, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel spoke out saying that he limits his kids' screentime to 'an hour and a half per week'.

Given the tech leaders' awareness of the evolution and risks of technology, it's probably about right they make their children aware of the dangers at an early age. And put off the risks of them having their own device to when they are a 'safer' age.