Is It Time To Get Your Kid a Phone?

What you need to know before giving your kid a phone, plus the Wirecutter-tested trackers, smartwatches, and phones to consider.

Guests: Wirecutter senior staff writer Ellen Lee & Dr. Devorah Heitner

Additional Reading:

• The Best First Phones for Kids
• The Best Smartwatches for Kids
• The Best Parental Control Apps to Manage Screen Time (and Keep Your Kid Safer Online)
• Screenwise:Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World by Dr. Devorah Heitner
• Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World by Dr. Devorah Heitner

Products we recommend:

• AppleAirTag
• Tile Mate
• Bark Phone
• Pinwheel
• AppleiPhone SE (3rd generation, 128 GB)
• VerizonGizmo Watch 3
• AppleWatch SE GPS + Cellular

Check out more NYT podcast coverage about the recent push to ban phones in schools from The Daily and Hard Fork.

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Find edited transcripts for each episode here: The Wirecutter Show Podcast