TOKYO — Children in Japan are receiving their first smartphones at an increasingly early age, with 51.6 percent of parents reporting giving them to their kids in elementary school, according to a recent survey.

The rate was up 11.5 percentage points from the previous poll in 2019, said Mobile Marketing Data Labo, an information technology market research firm in Tokyo.

The proportion of children receiving their first smartphones before elementary school, meanwhile, rose to 5.8 percent from 2.8 percent.

An official at MMD Labo attributed the changes to "more households using them as a means of contact when children go to cram school or elsewhere."

But the official also cited cases of children being exposed to danger or getting involved in trouble after using the internet or social media through smartphone use.

"Families need to talk together about the risks and come up with rules," the official said.

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MMD Labo conducted the online survey from Jan. 21 to 24, covering 1,888 men and women aged 20 to 59 who gave their children smartphones for the first time from 2021.

Junior high school age was the next most common time for kids to receive their first smartphone, with this answer chosen by 28.5 percent of parents. Next was high school age, chosen by 12.4 percent, and university age and older, by 1.7 percent.

A question allowing multiple answers also asked why parents decided to give their children smartphones, with some respondents saying their kids told them they wanted them.

Others said other children had them, that their kids started attending cram school and other classes, and that they wanted to use the free messaging app Line as a family.

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