‘Old enough’ is a troublesome concept. I’ve met parents in their 40s who I wouldn’t say met the mental competence minimum to be capable of informed consent, so age isn’t really the measure.
If you want to give a kid the chance to learn tech but not be messed up by it, the best advice I’ve seen is to keep it isolated and user focused. The computer is a place they can go to when they demand its utility, not with them all the time and demanding their attention. The computer is a tool to let them do something else, not a way to cure 30 second windows of boredom with a stream of content. No internet or uncontrolled content, only curated software with no social aspect so they aren’t open for exploitation. The internet is basically a ‘no’ for maintaining sanity and safety. They’ll get access to all sorts of things as they get older/gain autonomy, so you won’t have to worry about when it’s appropriate to give them access.
‘Old enough’ is a troublesome concept. I’ve met parents in their 40s who I wouldn’t say met the mental competence minimum to be capable of informed consent, so age isn’t really the measure.
If you want to give a kid the chance to learn tech but not be messed up by it, the best advice I’ve seen is to keep it isolated and user focused. The computer is a place they can go to when they demand its utility, not with them all the time and demanding their attention. The computer is a tool to let them do something else, not a way to cure 30 second windows of boredom with a stream of content. No internet or uncontrolled content, only curated software with no social aspect so they aren’t open for exploitation. The internet is basically a ‘no’ for maintaining sanity and safety. They’ll get access to all sorts of things as they get older/gain autonomy, so you won’t have to worry about when it’s appropriate to give them access.