Is your child ready for a smartphone?

Everyone seems to have a smartphone these days - even kids. But how young is too young for a smartphone?  Dr. Joe Austerman, a child psychiatrist at Cleveland Clinic Children's, says the first step to determining if your child is ready for a smartphone is making sure they understand the rules.

"Before getting any handheld device or smartphone, you want to educate your child on the dangers and work through them, so that they know how to interact and what the appropriate rules are for interaction," he warned.

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Austerman says no child less than 10 years old should have a smartphone. He says your child should be mature enough to understand the dangers of cyberbullying and predators that come along with the responsibility.

Austerman suggests putting together a contract with your child and have them sign it. The contract should spell out all of the responsibilities and repercussions if they don't act appropriately.

The child psychiatrist adds parents should lead by example and keep the communication lines open.

"I always say to parents monitor, monitor, monitor and be engaged with your child so that he or she feels comfortable talking to you if there are problems with the handheld device," explained Austerman.

He says it's also important that parents set the phone up with all of the proper parental controls. If your child is not ok with it, then they should not have the phone.