Sam Schultz, 12, has his own iPod, access to the family iPad and may get an  iPhone next year. Picture: Tait Schmaal
Source: The Advertiser

IF you're struggling with the idea of giving your child an "i-device" for Christmas, child psychologist Kirrilie Smout has some advice.

"I often say to parents: `Would you be happy for your five-year-old to walk around with $500 in their pocket?' "said Ms Smout, of Developing Minds Psychology and Education.

"The child has got to be able to keep track of where the device is and understand the rules about it, and the question that parents want to be asking is: `Can the child cope with the responsibility?' "

Knowing the right age to give children their own technology is a problem faced by most parents.

While the experts were hesitant to give specific age suitability for items such as iPods, tablet computers and smartphones, the consensus was that some eight-year-olds could handle the responsibility of owning a music player.

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But parents generally should wait until the teenage years to give a child an internet-enabled iPad or smartphone.

Jodie Benveniste, psychologist and director of website Parent Wellbeing, said the key to giving kids access to gadgets was to set boundaries, while Silvia Ashfield-Smith of BlueSky Psychology said children needed to learn "how to tolerate boredom" and use their own initiative.

Sam Schultz, 12, of Fullarton, got his own iPod a year ago which he used to access the internet, mainly to check the weather before going fishing. He also used it to take photos, play games and talk to friends on kik (a texting app).

"Most of my friends have some i-device," he said. "My mum takes away my iPod as punishment if I am misbehaving, and as a substitute I usually read and watch TV."

Younger brother Henry, 10, also has an iPod and sister Sadie, 7, uses the family iPad for drawing.

Their mother, Angela Schultz, said she was confident her children could handle the technology, but she restricted its use mainly to weekends.

"But after an hour I ask them to have a break and go and do something else," she said. "We also never allow them at the table."

Ms Schultz and husband Tim are thinking of getting Sam an iPhone next year.