Another issue is group chats. In my middle school (in US), people started planned events / set up hangouts / got to know people better over group chats. The peo

Another issue is group chats. In my middle school (in US), people started planned events / set up hangouts / got to know people better over group chats. The people who didn't have phones were just heard of less often. I think having some type of phone is useful for that. Then having honest conversations with your kid about the responsibility that comes with it. My parents were relatively free range with me about things, and I respect them for it. They never set parental controls on my devices, never enforced downtime from screens, never stopped me from doing something on a device because I wanted to. By high school I was tinkering with computers and doing tons of side projects just for fun. I think they recognized my love for tech at a young age and let me run with it. Now I'm in my last year of school doing Industrial engineering and computer science, and tech has always been integral to my success. -- I think you should have honest conversations with the kid about what you think is the good and bad about having phones, then share with them personally how you've felt while using it. There are times tech can be awful, but also times it can be really helpful.