Smartphones are everywhere now, and their diffusion has spread from adults to students in high school, then junior high and now even elementary school. The trend has led to the question: When and how should kids use smartphones?

Parents, of course, are battling with this question. Should they let their children have a smartphone, with the unrestricted access to the Internet they provide? On the one hand, parents want their kids to become digital-literate, and to fit in with their young peers who also have the latest gadgets. On the other hand, the news is rife with stories of young people involved in Internet crime or becoming victims of bullying on social networks.

In January 2009, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issued a notice to schools across the country requesting that elementary and junior high schools ban cellphones on the premises, and that high schools set usage restrictions or prohibition.