Heck, a lot of kids today don't know what the world was like without smartphones and tablets, and it seems like it was just yesterday that these were adopted en masse.
This is perhaps a stupid question without context, but doesn't every kid of the age where this kind of things is an issue carry their own smartphone nowadays? With mobile Internet?
In my experience with kids, it's not a choice. It's mostly poor kids who have this problem. Their family doesn't have a PC, and an old/cheap smartphone is the way they access the Internet.
I do wonder if the push to virtual interactions over physical ones is driven by the rise of afterschool care for kids in dual-income families. My kids are at home after school, but there are few other kids out playing. Most of the kids in our neighborhood aren't home in the afternoons, are there aren't groups of kids playing in the parks unsupervised. The parks are largely used by pre-school ages kids with nannies, or for family groups after dinner.
The smartphone allows kids to stay in contact with their friends even when they are otherwise occupied with sports, aftercare, etc. etc.
Kids are 11 and 15. Both have phones, laptops and share a switch and Quest. No limits. They watch and play as much as they want so long as they do homework, maintain hygiene and get some physical and social activity. They're both healthy and well-adjusted. My oldest is at an elite STEM school, younger one is doing well enough. The STEM kid in particular, they literally use their phones in class. Teachers tell them to look things up, use calculators, text classmates for group projects, find links on Google Classroom or watch lectures on YouTube. The war on phones is over and phones have won.
There are, in fact, studies showing that smart phone usage isn't bad:
For a while it wasn't, but since smartphones computers are not used by most kids anymore, to the point employers have trouble hiring people with even basic computer skills.
We got our kids smartphones when they started middle school -- for our convenience, not their entertainment. I control what they install and I set time limits on when they can use them. They are not allowed to have social media accounts, and thus far my only bugbear is the fact that I have to allow browser access but that then allows unfettered access to Youtube.
I generally trust my kids and they're pretty responsible, but there's a lot of stuff out there they could inadvertently wander into, and while they probably aren't at elevated risk, I don't want it to happen sooner than necessary.
They have Android phones, btw, and are practically the only ones in the school who do. The result has been that they use Messages + Telegram for chat. They barely acknowledge the fact that their Google accounts mean they have email accounts, and even if anyone sends them anything they don't read it. App-based push notifications are a requirement if you want tweens'/teens' attention.
We bought them phones as a safety precaution because they 1) ride their bikes to school, and 2) we're all over the place in the evenings with sports practices, some of which don't end until 9:15pm. We appreciate them being accessible -- by us -- and giving them the ability to communicate with us and their friends, too.
Phones are not allowed in bedrooms or bathrooms in our house, either, for adults or kids. :)
"As old as"? More like, "as young as". Most kids that age shouldn't even be using smartphones. Ask yourself: Why do they need it? Why do they need a computing device with nigh full access to the Internet 24/7? It's unhealthy, and for kids staying in touch with friends; kids need _plenty_ of break from their peers in order to grow and develop as an individual.
The difference between then and now is that on smartphones all the interesting things are inseparably intertwined with the actively dangerous things. A Nintendo console would allow you to play, but if a parent set a time limit and took away the console after that, the only effect would be your inability to continue playing. By taking away a smartphone, you’re stripping children of their primary access to their community. People seem to have forgotten what it’s like if you’re the outcast child who doesn’t get what it’s all about. Self worth, status, formation of taste and creativity, social contacts, and interaction, are all happening on social media now, whether we like it or not.
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