Before giving your child a cellphone parents should ask themselves alot of questions, National Association of Social Workers member Mindy Miller said in this article in the Missouri’s Joplin Globe.

For instance, does your child need a cellphone so you can keep up with them while they are doing activities such as sports? Or do they just want one to keep up with their friends?

Also be prepared for the expense and ready to monitor your children if they have smart phones that allow them to surf the Web just like computers, she said.

“If you have a computer set up at a central location, so you can look over their shoulders, you can’t do that with a phone,” Miller said.

To learn more about how social workers help parents, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Healthy Parenting Web page by clicking here.