My jr high kid has a smartphone. It is 100% remotely monitored by me (non-COTS, my brother's doing who is a developer by trade and I trust). I am aware of all the problems with kids having them. I considered all the options and decided the best course was to give it to him, talk to him regularly about dangers, propaganda, over use and dependence on devices, etc, and monitor his use unbeknownst to him to see if he is listening to me. He can't have social media, his time using it beyond text and call is restricted, and we talk about why. I decided that was better than having him grow up iscolated from it, probably still be using devices elsewhere cause kids and teens all sneak around, and then not have helped guide him him through it growing up and him be more susceptible when on his own. It's worked reasonably well so far.