Table 4.
Youth responses to Q4 about mobile phone ownership recommendations (N=448).
| Subtheme by theme and question | Value | Representative quote | ||
| Q4a: What do you think is the right age for someone to get their first cell phone and why? | ||||
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Suggested a specific age or age range | 354 (79.9) | N/Ab | |
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Recommended age (years), mean (SD) | 12.7 (1.6) | N/A | |
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Recommended age (years), response range (min-max) | 7-20 | N/A | |
| Qualitative responses, n (%) | ||||
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Subtheme: necessity | 146 (33) | “If a child is frequently out and about (eg community centers/clubs, friends, paper routes), has a situation where they need to contact their parent, has to wait after class, etc, then the actual age doesn't matter much…” (Mc; age 20 y, got phone at 12 y) | |
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Subtheme: maturity as a requirement | 60 (13.6) |
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Conditional independence | 38 (8.6) | “I think it depends on the person. If someone is living a more independent life going out with friends alone or traveling on their own they should get a phone to communicate.” (M; age 14 y, got phone at 12 y) |
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Conditional responsibility | 22 (5) | “when they are mature enough to use it responsibly, so i think it depends per person.” (Fd; age 20 y, got phone at 12 y) |
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Responsibility | 48 (10.8) | “[age] 14. Then they are mature enough for it.” (No gender indicated; age 17 y, got phone at 14 y) |
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Subtheme: socialization | 24 (5.4) | “maybe 8th grade? it’s an important thing to have for social connection and most of their peers will have a phone in middle school.” (F; age 23 y, got phone at 11 y) | |
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Subtheme: environmental context | |||
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Observation | 16 (3.6) | “I think the age [to get a first phone] keeps getting younger and younger. Maybe 12 years old.” (F; age 24 y, got phone at 14 y) |
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Social disadvantage | 3 (0.7) | “I think that it's younger than when I received one, because the technology has advanced and withholding one would make the child stand out from their peers.” (Nonbinary; age 18 y, got phone at 11 y) |
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Subtheme: maturity as a result | |||
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Learning opportunity | 11 (2.5) | “The best age would be 12-14, because this is the best time to teach them the value of responsibility.” (M; age 14 y, got phone at 12 y) |
aQ4: question 4.
bN/A: not applicable.
cM: male.
dF: female.