{"id":260,"date":"2025-08-01T21:49:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T21:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kateymcpherson.com\/?p=260"},"modified":"2025-08-01T22:34:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T22:34:41","slug":"why-waiting-matters-my-take-on-smartphones-kids-and-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kateymcpherson.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/01\/why-waiting-matters-my-take-on-smartphones-kids-and-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Waiting Matters: My Take on Smartphones, Kids, and Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her Channel 3 interview, Katey McPherson shares why children under 13 shouldn’t have smartphones, citing new research that links early tech access to mental health concerns like anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. As a mom and digital wellness advocate, she recommends starting with basic devices that allow calls and texts\u2014like the Bark Phone\u2014while avoiding social media and web access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,36],"tags":[71,70,72,74,73,69,75,76],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-parenting","category-digital-wellness","tag-bark-phone","tag-katey-mcpherson","tag-parenting-digital-wellness","tag-safe-phones-for-children","tag-screen-time-and-mental-health","tag-smartphones-and-kids","tag-wait-until-8th","tag-when-should-kids-get-a-phone"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Waiting Matters: My Take on Smartphones, Kids, and Mental Health - kateymcpherson.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kateymcpherson.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/01\/why-waiting-matters-my-take-on-smartphones-kids-and-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Waiting Matters: My Take on Smartphones, Kids, and Mental Health - kateymcpherson.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In her Channel 3 interview, Katey McPherson shares why children under 13 shouldn't have smartphones, citing new research that links early tech access to mental health concerns like anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. 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