’16 And Pregnant’ Star Nikkole Paulun Asks When Children Are Old Enough For Phones

Former 16 and Pregnant star Nikkole Paulun took to her Twitter account early this morning to ask her 89,500 followers their thoughts on how old a child should be before they are given their first phone.

In just a few hours since she shared the tweet on her profile, her followers showered the comments with feedback and opinions on when children should be allowed to have phones. Paulun was flooded with nothing but opinions without a negative response anywhere in sight.

Unfortunately, opinions on the right age to present a child with her first phone did seem to vary. The majority of the comments suggested an age (or age range) between the ages of 9 and 12. There were, however, some who suggested much younger ages as well as those who claimed children really should be 14 or even 16-years-old before they are given their own phone.

Instead of an age range, there were also a few of Nikkole’s followers who explained the decision wasn’t really something you should make based on how old a child is. The general consensus was that the decision should be made based on a combination of whether the child is mature enough for the phone and whether the child actually needs the phone.

A few of her Twitter followers continued to explain a phone became necessary for their own children when they started staying places other than home and ended up in scenarios where they might need to phone home.

At what age did you or would you get your child their first phone???

— Nikkole Paulun (@nikkoleMTV) August 1, 2019

One Twitter user noted that if Nikkole felt weird about giving her child access to a phone, she could consider getting a regular flip phone to limit what the child was able to do with it.

After soaking in the feedback of her followers for about an hour, Paulun took to Twitter again to post a follow-up question. This time she wanted to know what type of phone she could get that would only allow her child to send text messages and make phone calls.

A follow up question… what phones do you get that only text and call?

— Nikkole Paulun (@nikkoleMTV) August 1, 2019

While there haven’t been as many comments on her follow-up question, the majority noted that she should consider a flip phone.

One Twitter user even explained flip phones are great for children who are accident-prone and have the horrible habit of cracking the screens of smartphones.

There were also a few Twitter users who suggested getting a smartwatch, such as the Gizmo watch, instead of a phone. While the Gizmo watch wouldn’t allow her child to text her, it would give her the option of calling her.