Don’t Give Your Child a Smartphone: Bangladesh Needs a New Parenting Rule

For many Bangladeshi parents, giving a smartphone to a child has become almost as ordinary as buying schoolbooks.

Parents believe smartphones help children communicate, study, access information and remain safe.

These benefits are real. But the same device can expose children to problematic use, inappropriate content, cyberbullying, online exploitation, sleep disruption, reduced concentration and psychological distress.

That raises a simple question: Does a child really need a smartphone, or simply a phone?

For children and teenagers below 18, a basic mobile phone that allows calls and emergency contact may often be a safer option than an internet connected smartphone.

It can meet essential communication needs without giving unrestricted access to social media, gaming, video platforms and other online content.

Bangladesh is already deeply connected. According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the country had about 186.06 million mobile subscriptions in March 2026.

These are subscriptions rather than individual users because one person can have multiple connections. DataReportal’s Digital 2025: Bangladesh estimated that the country had 77.7 million internet users in January 2025 and around 60 million social media user identities.

The growing use of smartphones among young people is particularly concerning.

A study published in Health Science Reports, involving 1,803 secondary school students from 21 districts of Bangladesh, found that 67.11 percent used mobile phones daily, with smartphones being the most prominent device.

The researchers reported associations between gadget use and health problems including headaches, backache, visual disturbance and sleep disturbance.

Another study published in PLOS ONE, involving 424 Bangladeshi high school students, found that 72.2 percent owned a personal smartphone, while 20.3 percent used one for more than four hours a day. The study also found that 21.2 percent slept for less than six hours daily.

These figures do not mean that every teenager is addicted to smartphones, nor do they prove that smartphones alone cause mental health or educational problems.

But they show how deeply smartphones have entered young people’s lives and why parents cannot ignore the risks of excessive and unsupervised use.

The consequences can be physical as well as psychological. Spending hours looking at a screen can contribute to eye strain, headaches, poor posture and reduced physical activity.

A child sitting with a smartphone is also spending less time playing outdoors, exercising, reading, communicating with family members and developing real world social skills.

Sleep is another major concern. Children who keep smartphones beside their beds may continue watching videos, chatting, gaming or scrolling long after they should be asleep.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported evidence linking media use with shorter sleep duration and sleep disturbances, particularly when mobile devices are used around bedtime or kept in children’s bedrooms.

Poor sleep can affect concentration, memory, mood, learning and emotional regulation.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe has also reported growing problematic social media use among adolescents and linked it with lower wellbeing, sleep problems and later bedtimes.

Academic performance can suffer as well. Constant notifications and the temptation to move between homework, social media, videos and games can fragment attention.

A child may spend an hour apparently studying while actually giving only a small part of that time to schoolwork.

There are also concerns about anxiety, depression, loneliness and compulsive behaviour.

Young people can become dependent on likes, comments, followers and online approval.

Constant comparison with carefully presented images of other people’s lives may damage self-confidence and create dissatisfaction with ordinary life.

Perhaps the most serious danger is that a smartphone is not simply a telephone. It is a gateway to an enormous digital environment.

Children can encounter pornography, violent material, gambling related content, misinformation, hate speech, cyberbullying and strangers seeking inappropriate relationships.

UNICEF warns that children face risks online including cyberbullying, harmful content, privacy violations, sexual exploitation and abuse.

The organisation also highlights how digital technologies can enable perpetrators to contact and manipulate children.

Artificial intelligence has added another layer of danger. Manipulated photographs, sexually explicit deepfakes and other forms of digitally altered content can cause severe emotional and social harm to young people.

A child may also unknowingly share personal information, photographs or location details that can later be misused.

Parental supervision is therefore essential but may not always be sufficient. Many parents do not know which applications their children use, whom they communicate with or what content algorithms recommend.

Some parents give smartphones to children simply to keep them occupied. This may be convenient for adults but potentially harmful for children.

Bangladesh needs a stronger national approach to child digital protection. The government could develop age appropriate guidelines for smartphone and social media use.

Mobile phone retailers could provide clear information about child safe devices and parental controls.

Mobile operators could offer child protection packages, while technology companies should strengthen age verification and safeguards for younger users.

Bangladesh should not necessarily prohibit all smartphone sales to people under 18. Smartphones have genuine educational and communication benefits.

A better approach would be age appropriate and supervised access. Other countries are already taking stronger measures.

Australia introduced age restrictions from 10 December 2025, requiring major social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent people under 16 from having accounts.

The policy is administered under the country’s eSafety Commissioner framework.
France has also restricted mobile phone use in schools.

The French Ministry of National Education says pupils are to have schooling without mobile phones, with restrictions extending across schools and education related activities.

The policy reflects concerns about attention, concentration, excessive screen exposure and critical thinking.

Bangladesh does not have to copy these models, but it should learn from their central principle: children need protection while they develop the maturity required to navigate the digital world.

Most importantly, parents must reconsider their own approach. A smartphone should not become a substitute for parental attention, outdoor play, books, conversation, creativity or family life.

Children need face to face relationships, physical activity, hobbies and opportunities to develop independence without a screen constantly competing for their attention.

The message is not that technology is the enemy. Technology is an essential part of modern life, and children must eventually learn to use it responsibly.

But childhood is a critical period of physical, emotional, social and intellectual development.

Giving a child unrestricted access to a powerful internet connected device before the child is ready may create risks parents do not fully understand.

If the primary purpose is to keep a child connected and safe, a basic phone may be enough.

Bangladesh needs digitally capable young people, but it also needs healthy, confident, creative and socially responsible citizens.

Protecting children from premature and excessive smartphone use is not denying them the future. It may be one of the best ways of preparing them for it.

(The writer is the Editor and CEO of News Network)