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Never give a 10-year-old a phone and other advice for parents

Never give a 10-year-old a phone and other advice for parents

Three new books tackle the challenges of raising tweenage girls and teenage boys, and being a guilty mum.

Parents worried about their primary school aged daughters being isolated from their friends during the COVID-19 lockdowns thought a phone seemed the right answer – wrong! iStock

Theo ChapmanWeekend Fin editor

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There is a certain irony that the only people I know who read parenting books are generally doing an OK job. Unlike almost any other area of study, parenting has no right answers, no universal methods and few agreed outcomes of success.

A friend says that he feels he’s done all right since none of his kids ended up in jail. I consider my own parenting a success because both my kids left home when they got jobs (and haven’t boomeranged back).

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Theo Chapman
Theo ChapmanWeekend Fin editorTheo Chapman edits the Weekend Fin section of AFR Weekend. She writes about science, technology and the arts. Connect with Theo on Twitter. Email Theo at tchapman@afr.com

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/never-give-a-10-year-old-a-phone-and-other-advice-for-parents-20210324-p57dje