Children In The UAE Are The Youngest In The World To Get A Mobile Phone

An alarming number of young children in the UAE get their first mobile phone at the age of 7 years old

Posted on

11 November 2018

Posted by

Lara

A new study found alarming results when comparing children in the UAE

Lots of parents from around the world come to the UAE to provide better, safer and more comfortable lifestyles for their children in the country.

And while the country provides a prosperous future, some parents can get caught up with the glitz and glam of the country.

More often than not, confusing their children’s needs with wants and a new study has found this out.

While it is a parental decision of when to introduce mobile phones into the household for their little ones, extreme usage of mobile phones can have detrimental effects on the children's development.

Children in the UAE are amongst the youngest in the world to own their first mobile phones – the average number has been found to be as young as 7 years old.

The study, done called My First Device Report by Norton, compared the youngest ages of children around that world and when they get their first mobile phones.

It also found that the UAE children spend far less time in the outdoors and an alarming amount of time indoors on some sort of electronic device – often spending more time online than their own parents do.

The results were found after comparing the results of 7,000 parents in Europe and the Middle East, who have children aged between 5 and 16 years old.

Alarming results

Children in the UAE were found to spend between 2.5 and more hours on their mobile phones every single day.

And they were also ranked at 5th place in the entire world for spending the most time on electronic devices in comparison to other countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Even though the UK remains at the first place for the most time spent by children on their mobile phone – the UAE is only 25 minutes less than the first place ranking.

And with old habits not seeming to die fast, the number is expected to continue to grow.

Children in Spain scored the best outcome during this study – they were found to spend the least amount of time on their mobile devices, with almost 30 minutes less than the children in the UAE.