The right age to get a smartphone

Inna | Sep 14, 2026Sep 16, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this reading lesson about smartphones are to:

• discuss the right age for children to get their first smartphone;
• read an article about deciding when a child is ready for a phone;
• review vocabulary related to responsibility and behaviour.

In this reading lesson about smartphones, students discuss their own first phone and review vocabulary connected to responsibility and online behaviour (e.g. responsible, respect, influence). They read an article exploring statistics on phone ownership, questions parents might ask before deciding and tips for building healthy phone habits. Students also look at rules a parent set for their child and discuss whether they’d work.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up in which students think about their first mobile phone and share details about it. Afterwards, they read what some parents say about smartphones and match words and phrases in bold with their definitions (e.g. responsible, respect, influence, harmful). Moving on, students say which two statements they’d use if they didn’t want to get a child a phone and think of two more examples.

ARTICLE AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the reading lesson about smartphones, students read the headline of an article and say how they’d answer the question it poses. They then read the first part of the article and choose who it’s written for. Then, they discuss the statistics and possible reasons why there’s no right age for getting a smartphone. Moving on, students read the second part of the article and complete gaps with vocabulary from the lesson. Then, they choose which questions parents could ask their children before getting them a phone. They also think of further questions parents could ask and reasons children give for needing a phone. Following that, students read the final part of the article and choose the statement that best summarizes it and discuss its main ideas. Finally, they look at a set of rules a parent sets for a child’s new phone, decide which ones work, improve the ones that don’t and think of additional rules.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This reading lesson about smartphones also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students unscramble words from the lesson to complete sentences. They then replace part of each sentence with their own ideas. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it, cut it up and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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