THE USE OF smartphones by children and teenagers was brought into sharp focus this week.

This was after the sentencing of a man who used Skype, Snapchat, Instagram and Kik, an anonymous instant messaging application, to send and receive child porn images from six identified child users in Ireland and nine unknown users around the world.

Many commentators said that the case highlighted the dangers of social media use for children, and that parents and the state were not doing enough to protect their kids online.

RTÉ’s Ryan Tubridy called for tougher regulations around smartphone use by children, while child psychologist Dr Mary Aiken said that children under the age of 14 should not own a smartphone.

Other commentary tried to temper the debate, suggesting that greater parental responsibility was needed, rather than new laws or regulations.

But what do you think?

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