Here are four messages from a new report on children and smartphones—and the children’s own attitudes toward them.

The average age for children’s first smartphone is 8.1 years, according to data from a new Red Barnet report.

We spoke to fourth graders at Skolen ved Søerne in Frederiksberg about their opinions on some of the report’s conclusions.

When should your child get a smartphone, and how much screen time should they be allowed?

These are some of the questions Red Barnet explored in a new survey of 787 children and 1,316 parents.

Here are five key takeaways from the report.

On average, children are 5.2 years old when they get their first tablet and 8.1 when they receive their first smartphone. However, Red Barnet recommends waiting until age 13 before giving a child their first smartphone.

"There can be many good reasons to give a child a phone—it can increase independence and allow them to move around more freely. But we also see that it comes with a cost. Many children become hooked and spend countless hours online," says Malte Siglev, digital well-being advisor at Red Barnet.

The report reveals that three out of four children have a smartphone by the age of ten. Two of them are Elias Munk Rothaus Juel and Birk Pajovic Ingvartsen. While Elias has a mobile phone, Birk does not.

"I think you should have a phone. I got one when I turned eight, so I could call my mom and dad when I needed to go home or to the club," he says.

Birk Pajovic Ingvartsen doesn’t mind not having a smartphone. Instead, he uses a smartwatch to call and send messages. But he believes he’s reaching the age where he should get a mobile phone.

"I think my age—maybe fourth or fifth grade—is best," he says.

More than half of the parents of ten-year-olds say that screen use during their child’s free time strengthens family bonds. Parents also believe their children feel that screens are necessary to be part of the group.

Ea Lyngby Valeur-Jaques, 11, has a smartphone but isn’t allowed on social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram—she can only join them at 15.

Though she doesn’t feel left out, she could imagine using social media to communicate with friends.

"One of my friends has it. I’d like to be able to message her, but I don’t really need it because my parents can write for me," she says.

"But if someone posts something really funny or something happens, I can’t see it because I can’t message them, and that’s a bit annoying," she adds.

Rumle Jakobsen, also 11, agrees.

"You’re not completely left out without a smartphone, but you’re a little bit," he says.

The older children get, the harder parents find it for them to come up with activities without screens. For parents of ten-year-olds, this is the case for 42 percent.

Clara Bäckström Stage, 10, has her own phone. She can relate to the difficulty of finding things to do as she gets older.

"In a way, I think it’s true. When you’re really little, you have a great imagination. You can just make up games—like pretending the whole world is made of bubblegum. But when you get a bit older, I don’t have as much to do. So we just play the same games over and over, and that’s a bit boring," she says.

The survey shows that it’s rare for parent groups in a child’s class to establish shared screen-time rules across households.

While Malte Siglev acknowledges that it can be difficult to enforce the same rules in multiple homes, he believes it could still be helpful.

"Many of the challenges children face as their digital lives speed up are collective. That’s why it can be a big help for kids if their parents in the class work even closer together and, through shared agreements, create a good framework for their digital social interactions," he says.

That’s why the recommendation is for parents to discuss together when their children should get their first smartphone, which platforms they should use, and at what times of day they should be allowed to communicate with each other.

Saina Søjborg Sussoh, 10, who also has her own phone, doesn’t think this is a good idea.

"I don’t think other parents should decide what I can have on my screen. I just think they should take care of their own kids. I can understand that some parents might be a little worried if I’m on my screen a lot and their kids aren’t, and maybe they feel left out. But I don’t think school should decide," she says.

You can read the full report, which Red Barnet produced in collaboration with Vive, here.

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