I remember the time I had gotten a Nintendo DS for Hannukah and flashed it in front of all the kids waiting for their Christmas gifts as if I was on top of the world. This was in elementary school and I honestly had no understanding of what a smartphone even was. Kids nowadays are just different breeds as a study now shows that children in Japan are receiving their first smartphones in elementary school.

51.6% of parents are reported to be giving children their first smartphones in elementary school. The rate is up 11.5% from the previously conducted 2019 poll said Mobile Marketing Data Labo which conducts technology market research in Tokyo. The proportion of children receiving their first smartphones BEFORE elementary school rose as well to 5.8% from the previously reported 2.8%.

Officials at Mobile Marketing Data Labo claimed the changes are due to “more households using them as a means of contact when children go to cram school or elsewhere,” but the same officials also cited cases of children being exposed to danger after using the internet or social media through smartphone use. “Families need to talk together about the risks and come up with rules,” the officials said.

Mobile Marketing Data Labo performed the survey from January 21st to 24th with an audience of 1,888 men and women aged 20 to 59. These individuals were reported to have given their children phones for the first time since 2021.

Middle school got was the next most common age group of children to receive their first phone with 28.5% of parents falling into this group. High school age groups were chosen by 12.4% of the parents and university age only held 1.7%.

Read more in-depth HERE