This House believes that children should be allowed to own and use smart phones.

This is my second time too! That was quick considering how many yet-to-be-accepted challenges here. Anyways, I can't believe I left this out but I was meant to include Definition in my format that I proposed earlier. Nevertheless, I'll still be taking Definition into account of our battle and am going to incorporate our debate some definitions. However, you can still dispute my proposal and come out with (a) new one(s) in case there are flaws in mine! Back to our debate, I'd like to begin our debate with the definition of a child. The word child is ambiguous. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UK government in 1991, states that a child "means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier" (Article 1, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). Therefore the group of people that should be included in our debate encompasses adolescents and teenagers. 1. My belief in this matter ( that a child should be owning a smart hone) revolves around the rights of children. Children's rights are defined in numerous ways, including a wide spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, social and political rights. A Canadian organization categorizes children's rights into three categories namely provision, protection and participation. There are many aspects that fall under provision , but the ones that I'd like to highlight are these ; right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to freedom of opinion and of expression and right to adequate standard of living. As stated, children are entitled to the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion. One way to acquire these qualities especially to flourish one's thinking is through reading. We are what we read! Besides, I believe that in this present time, the easiest and fastest way to gain access to lavish amount of reading materials that enhances the maturity of one's ideas, his philosophies and knowledge is via the Internet. Therefore, if and only if the parents have the financial stability and advantage, it is convenient for their children ( and that includes teenagers ) to own a smart phone for them to discover more about the world and philosophies that great people had to offer. Haven't you notice that more children nowadays speak of great and complicated ideas and issues compared to children of say the 70's and 80's? I believe it is the result of modern day communication technology and globalization that enable the accessibility to an unlimited possibilities. En Toto, smart phones are vital (but not mandatory) for a child's development of critical thinking and ideas. 2. A smart phone is an amalgamation of many other electronic devices such as a computer, a phone, an MP3, calculator, stopwatch, clock and gaming platform ; just to name a few. That's why, in my opinion rather than having to spend extra for a number of these electronic devices that befit children's social life, why not just give them a single multipurpose gadget? My second point is owning a smart phone can save money. Bear in mind that smart phones aren't just iPhones, Samsung Note 3, 1 Plus and all those fancy expensive brands. Brands like Zen Mobile, Motorola and ZTE do offer budget smart phones at reasonable and affordable prices. Therefore, for economic and financial reasons, children should be allowed to own smart phones, so that they can accommodate to the modern day social life. 3. Lastly, face it, we are living in a dynamic world where technology is progressing exponentially. The generation of children today isn't the same as the one from decades ago and so there's no point in turning that around. We can't turn back time! Rather than prohibiting children to use smart phones, parents should teach their children to cope with this important technology. My last point is by letting children having their own smart phone, perhaps even explore the mechanics of the gadget, parents are literally nurturing them to grow up to be technology-savvy. I myself as a student of engineering do see the importance in allowing them to own smart phones. Some of my friends did dissemble their electronic devices and even learn a thing or two about computer programming by just spending a lot of their alone time with computers. And honestly now I admit I am at disadvantage and wished I have spent less time with fictional books and more on hand-ons work, so that I would not have been so awkward with technology.