Meet the ingenious new smartphone for kids aged 7-12 years old

An ingenious new smartphone for kids aged 7-12 years old has launched in the UK, which gives parents the tools to promote mobile manners and prevent their kids from being addicted to tech.

The sleek looking monqi device looks just like a regular smartphone, however, it is completely controlled by the parents via an app that prompts them to introduce screen-free time for their kids.

As well as scheduling how much time their children are allowed to use the phone and creating digital boundaries, the monqi phone and app ensures that all contacts and app downloads are pre-approved by the parents, making it one of the safest devices on the market too.

This may be reassuring to some parents as a recent study found that by the age of 14 the average child will have sent more than 35,000 texts, 30,000 WhatsApp messages and racked up more than three solid weeks of video chat. Over half of under-14s said their phone is the first thing they check in the morning and last thing at night.*