A Smartphone Before Age Fourteen

The task

Do you think children under fourteen should be allowed to have their own smartphone?

• Decide yes or no and give your opinion.
• Explain your reasons.

Original CELPIP-style practice question, not an official CELPIP test item. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Paragon Testing Enterprises. The CLB level of each sample answer was reviewed by a TESOL-certified instructor. It is not an official CELPIP score.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking time

90 seconds

Question

9 of 10

No. I think children under fourteen are too young for smartphone. They use it too much time. On the bus, at the mall, I always see kids looking the screen, they don't talk, they don't talk with their family. My friend's son, ten years old, he plays games every evening until late, and his marks at school went down. Also the internet is bad for kids, uh, there are many things they shouldn't see, and parents can't see all of it. Kids know the phone better than the parents! A simple phone for calling, okay, for safety. But a smartphone, they should wait. Wait until they are older.

Why this answer works

• Content/Coherence: two plain reasons (time on the phone, the internet) and one example from a friend's son; the last sentence just restates the answer.
• Vocabulary: simple words; "bad for kids" and "see all of it" are general.
• Listenability: a filler ("uh"), a missing preposition ("looking the screen") and an unnatural phrase ("use it too much time"); easy to follow.
• Task Fulfillment: a clear no with a small compromise (a basic phone).

I think yes, as long as parents set some rules. First, it's useful for safety. My nephew is twelve and takes two buses to school, and when his bus broke down last winter, he texted his mom right away and sent her his location. His mom told me she'd never felt so relieved. Second, a lot of kids' social life happens in group chats now, so a child without a phone can feel left out of plans and jokes at school. Kids can be harsh about that. And third, it's a chance to learn responsibility while parents are still around to guide them, instead of at eighteen when nobody's watching. I know people worry about screen time and what kids might see online. That's why I'd have rules, like no phones at dinner or in the bedroom at night. But banning them completely seems unrealistic to me.

Why this answer works

• Content/Coherence: three reasons, a specific example (the nephew's bus) and a short counterpoint about screen time.
• Vocabulary: "left out", "responsibility" and "unrealistic" are accurate.
• Listenability: the bus story is short and complete ("he texted his mom right away and sent her his location"), and the rules at the end are given as simple examples.
• Task Fulfillment: a clear, conditional yes held to the end.

No, I don't think they should, and I say that as a parent who tried it. Parents worry, fairly, that a kid with no phone can't call home if something goes wrong. I accept that, and I wouldn't want my kid to be unreachable either. But a basic phone solves that problem. What a smartphone adds is open access to the internet, and that's where things go wrong. When my daughter got hers at eleven, within a month she was in a class group chat with forty people, and most of the drama she brought home started there, usually after ten at night. We ended up removing the social apps and having the phone charge in the kitchen, which basically turned it back into a basic phone. She complained for about a week, then got used to it. Looking back, starting there would have saved us a lot of arguments. So: a phone for safety, yes; a smartphone of their own, not until fourteen.

Why this answer works

• Content/Coherence: a flat no up front, then the other side's best point (being able to call home) accepted and answered with a cheaper solution and a precise family example.
• Vocabulary: "unreachable", "the drama she brought home" and "turned it back into a basic phone" are precise and natural.
• Listenability: the closing contrast ("a phone for safety, yes; a smartphone of their own, not until fourteen") sums up the answer in a form that is easy to remember.
• Task Fulfillment: a clear no to the question asked, with the age limit restated at the end.