Do not look now, but children want iPhones for Christmas.

A survey of 12- to 17-year-old conducted by Ebates discovered an iPhone shirt the wishlist. 1 third especially 32 percent of those surveyed want an iPhone.
Is this a great idea?

Well, I will tell you.

The Ebates did not spin out those who desire their initial iPhone vs people who need a newer iPhone.

Because the simple fact is, by the time kids hit 12 nowadays, many are already using iPhones.

Buy used iPhone 5C online

A new report from Common Sense Media found that about 38 percent of kids or infants under the age of two years old use tablets or tablets, although presumably do not necessarily "own" them.

It's very likely that most the devices are iPhones and iPads if YouTube videos are any sign.

The most awesome part of this number is the exact same survey conducted two years ago found just 10 percent, so the amount of 2-year-olds and under using touch apparatus has increased by 4x in a couple of decades.Wow.

More tellingly, the amount of 2-year-olds and younger utilizing touch phones or tablets daily has more than doubled in the last two decades, from 8% to 17%.

Which raises an obvious question: How young is too young for kids to own or using iPhones, iPads and other touch-screen apparatus?

It's apparent that intuitive multi-touch user interfaces such as iOS make it effortless for even very young children to use them.

That is something every parent must decide. However, my own opinion (having raised two children) I that whatever parents pick, they should follow this advice:

* Do not let "virtual" play replace real play with real people and real objects, especially outside play.

* Don't keep the delusion that getting your child download games and play them on an iPhone makes them "computer savvy."Being a consumer of a post-PC device teaches you precisely nothing about computers or technology.

* Do not let children use them within one hour of going to bed since the light in their eyes resets their biological clocks and prevents them from sleeping well.

* Don't let children and teens sleep using their telephones on. A pandemic of "crap sleep" is wrecking the health, and of course grades, of kids nowadays.

* Do not minimize the potential of creating your child a goal of mugging or theft by sending them out the door with an expensive and desirable consumer electronics product. Apple is the top brand for thieves everywhere.

Children say they need iPhones. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in the current earnings call that "It is going to be an iPad Christmas."

While kids are given Apple apparatus for years as holiday presents, the decision is harder this year than ever before.

To me, this is pretty near a no-brainier. Assuming the child has no other mobile device, an iPhone is the best thing to do.

It is just like the iPod Touch (a system that was a popular gift for a child) but can be activated now or later as a telephone. Additionally, Apple has not announced a current iPod Touch, and it is possible that this device category might be phased out entirely.

Some parents assume that an iPad will be better because children can do homework on it, and read books and so forth. However, most kids will do just fine with an iPhone. It is mostly people over 40 who "need" a pill for actual reading.

The drawbacks of an iPad for children are: 1) it needs a backpack, so it will not be carried around other than to and from school.

For the most part; 2) it can not be utilized as a telephone, so that you won't be able to monitor your child or phone them with it and 3) it is both more visible and more likely to be kept separately from your child, and therefore more likely to be stolen.

Generally speaking, I would advise an iPhone.

If I were to purchase an iPhone for myself, I'd purchase the iPhone 5S. But for a teen or child, I believe that the iPhone 5C is better, and that is why.

Functionally, the iPhone 5C is near the 5S. However, it's not as likely to be stolen for 2 reasons.

The 5C is less "prestigious" than a 5S.

Second, the color choice actually decreases the odds it is going to be stolen. The desirability of the phone is gone for everybody (crooks, buyers of stolen phones) who does not need a pink phone.

The color narrows its desirability a bit.

I believe it's also a fantastic idea for families to institute hand-me-down coverages for mobiles (this advice clearly contradicts the 5C information, but it is another approach.). Whichever parent is the largest gadget freak gets the most current iPhone. That parent's older iPhone goes to another parent. That parent's old phone goes to the oldest kid, etc.

So the "present" is not just an iPhone today, but the second or third hottest iPhone from now on.

I have seen this work great in a number of families.

Whichever device you choose to give, and whatever approach you choose, you can be certain of one thing: Apple gadgets make great gifts.