Apple

Choosing the right smartphone has never been difficult. Picking the right age for a child to own one is.

We all agree that there has been a mass exodus of children from outdoor free play to the glowing screens of smartphones or tablets. The American Academy of Pediatrics has for years urged parents to limit tech time for young children, simply because unstructured, unplugged play is the best way for them to think creatively, to problem solve, to develop communication and reasoning skills.

In no way do I advocate giving our innocent children a smartphone. That electronic gadget sounds like a forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and it is. And I have had a sneaking suspicion that my daughter will ask for her Apple sooner or later.

Earlier last week, the forecast came true. Our daughter badgered us to give her a personal telephone, two months shy of her ninth birthday. My heart sank. I took a deep breath, and my wife hers. We then talked over this question during dinner time and asked Jasmine for her two cents. "How's that going to work out for you?"

We agreed that our daughter can be trusted to make good use of her smartphone even before the end of our dinner. The remaining questions for me are the know-how of reconfiguring our old iPhone 6 and whereabouts to buy a SIM card. Next, to play safe, I headed to public library and borrowed two books on helping kids to navigate the digital age. These are what I need - and want - for peace of mind after we nodded in agreement to our daughter's request.

It may have been too early to conclude, but she didn't disappoint us.