A Hong Kong non-profit group is stepping up a campaign for parents to delay giving their children smartphones until the age of 14, with a survey revealing more than half of youngsters between the ages of 6 and 10 in the city already own one.
Look Up Hong Kong released the survey findings on Sunday in support of its push for parents to wait until their children turn 14 before getting them a smartphone and until 16 for granting them access to social media.
The results coincide with an ongoing government review on how excess screen time is affecting children in the city, which was highlighted in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s latest policy address.
The online survey, conducted in July by multinational research firm Ipsos for the group, polled 651 parents in Hong Kong with children attending primary or secondary school.
About three-quarters had children in public schools, while the remainder were roughly split between international schools and private independent or direct subsidy scheme ones.
Fifty-two per cent of parents said their children between the ages of six and 10 already had a smartphone. Ownership rates rose sharply with age, reaching 98 per cent among teenagers aged 14 or older.
