Ah, fifth grade… One of the most awkward years of my life up to this point. I was one of those over-mature girls for my age who towered over everyone and just could not seem to find a way to feel normal. Yep, that was me. I obsessed over my looks, which looking back at pictures does not show one bit. However, despite how much I would just love to forget about my pre-teen years, there was one thing that turned my life around; I received my first ever cell phone.

My parents were nice enough to have granted me 250 text messages a month, which in this day and age would be reached in a day for a typical fifth-grader with a cell phone. At the time, though, this seemed like an impossible limit to reach, considering none of my friends had cell phones and therefore no ability to text. Needless to say, things have changed drastically, quite possibly for the worst.

According to a study done in July of 2012, 56 percent of children ages 8 to 12 had already been given a cell phone. But wait – it gets even more shocking. Studies also show that a whopping 13 percent of children ages 6 to 10 own a cell phone. Before coming off too judgmental, I suppose it is important to try to understand that 6-year-olds need to communicate with friends outside of the school day, right?

Senior Erika Clark did not receive her first cell phone until she was in the sixth-grade but even then she did not have the capability to text. “If I had been consumed with my cell phone, I probably wouldn’t have done all the things I did. It would have taken over my life,” Clark said.

Everywhere we look, technology is present. Do parents not understand the effect it has on their children’s behavior? Social media is taking control of everything, from language, to clothing, to even the way people are acting. Why do young children need exposure to the messages social media portray?

“Having more access to social media makes them want to grow up too fast,” Clark said. “They’re not going to look at the things and people in front of them… They’ll be too busy trying to be something else, rather than just being themselves.”

There is no denying that cell phones have taken over nearly every age group, but we must guard our young generation from falling into the same trap. Children need to enjoy childhood the way it was intended to be enjoyed. A phone can wait – life outside of technology is so much more exciting.