Buy em a rzr flip like the olden days, better yet just get them a rape whistle
iPad kids are gonna grow up to be unable to focus on anything or endure discomfort/boredom.
Typical knife kill people - knife bad - ban knife nonsense
Truly some of the legislation of all time
The NHS is on fire and brits are wasting time on this shit?
Truly we are a divided and conquered species.
I’m not sure the two things are necessarily mutually exclusive though.
See, you’re exactly who we’re worried about kids meeting.
The post in February triggered a tidal wave of reaction from parents similarly gripped by anxiety about providing their children with a device they fear will open them up to predators, online bullying, social pressure and harmful content.
Can you imagine having to teach your kids about these risks, help them to deal with them and prepare them for adulthood?
That would be so much work.
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To be fair, the smartphone market kinda sucks. There’s not a great way to limit what the device can do without setting up privacy-violating controls.
So I’m looking into Linux phones like the Pinephone so I can completely remove access to certain features. I’ll probably start with disabling WiFi and data (except access to the carrier for calls and texts), then slowly open things up from there. That way I don’t need to monitor what they’re doing, since I know the boundaries I’ve set, and I can loosen it up slowly as they earn my trust.
In the meantime, they can still access the Internet and whatnot on family owned devices, but only during times my wife and I set. That, too, will be loosened as they earn trust. I’m mostly concerned about time spent, not what they end up actually doing.
no matter what you tell your kid, if left unrestricted they will end up on some bad places. Its just a fact
Isn’t that why they got Brexit?
I wouldn’t be opposed to a device that blocked all social media, but was filled with educational, and age appropriate, apps for a child. I don’t think playing Math Blaster ruined my childhood. Super Mario Brothers didn’t give me any life skills, other than improving hand-eye coordination. Neither one ruined my life, though.
I always would advocate for an act only when needed approach, blocking kids from accessing content their peers have access to can only result in them resenting you. And to what end, at some point they are going to get online they are going to start using social media they might as well be used to it.
You are much better off talking to your kids and having an open dialogue than you are trying to hide everything away from them, because that’s an impossible task.
And to what end, at some point they are going to get online they are going to start using social media they might as well be used to it.
It could also be like drugs, and that because they never learned how to moderate or separate themselves properly from it, they overuse the thing.
You gotta realize that restricting access to the internet is a 100% neccecary action. You, as a parent NEED to block your child’s access to the internet. Especially social media.
When I was a kid I was always moving around, going place. Incredibly unsafe, but nobody in my neighborhood died young at least.
The point I want to make is that I have stronger bone density as a direct result of physical activity while young, and I worry about the younger generation now who won’t have that.
A lor of people who grew up working the fields have now osteoporosis, so that’s not exactly true.
It’s still true regardless. Bone Density has a direct correlation with physical activity, especially for the young.
Yeah same, don’t forget about reflexes. If I accidentally fall, somehow my hands would always hit the ground first
That’s the result of being a mammal. It’s the same reason cats land on their feet, evolution. It has nothing to do with upbringing.
[US social psychologist Jonathan Haidt] links the rise of the “phone-based childhood”, continual supervision by adults and the loss of “free play” to spikes in mental illness in young people.
So phones are one out of three of the cited problems, but the only one they’re doing anything about. These poor kids are going to have to deal with helicopter parents and no free time with one less form of escape. Something tells me that’ll make it worse.
Who is ‘they’?
You’re acting like there exists some single high council of concerned people who have unilaterally decided to pin all childhood woes on the phones, when this is a single article primarily about a particular group of UK parents who’ve focused on this issue and who presumably were never in contact with this American psychologist.
How do you know that these parents haven’t also considered helicopter parenting and free play? Do you know them?
Dr. Thaddeus Q. They, clearly
You dont need a law for this. If you dont want your kid to use or have a smartphone then dont buy them one.
You shouldn’t need a law, but the reality is that you simply can not control it. Your kid will interact with other kids and most will have access to a smart phone.
There absolutely needs to be a law of some kind
How about we create some data and privacy laws that benefit everyone and this will benefit now and for their whole life.
Yeah, that would be nice too, but do you honestly see that happening either? I don’t. And for that Matter: there are more problems with children having unlimited access to media through irresponsible parents than just data and privacy not being respected.
No we don’t need a lot just because you want one. Take some responsibility for your own kids.
You should ready before you write. Not bothering to answer honestly I you don’t do the minimum.
Yes they may be able to see a smart phone at school or a friend’s house but if they don’t own one then for the majority of the day they will not be using one. Or God forbid you (the royal you not you specifically) actually try parent your kids and teach them about internet safety.
Should we remove gambling and drug access restrictions for youths? After all, parents can just parent around it.
Like all things, there’s moderation to consider. It’s fine to debate if this is too far, but to simple blame parents for being lazy or unwilling to parent is short sided.
Ahh, yes, because smartphones are the same as cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. Btw if you think kids aren’t already gambling, you are wrong.
I wonder when the last time smartphones gave someone cancer or liver psoriasis.
You can give your kids smartphones and put tons of blocks and restrictions on them. Ya the kids will get around that at some point but that’s the nature of being a kid.
Why are you all so fucking aggressive? How fuck it’s annoying me to the point to not even wanting to participate at all. How about some civility? Can you imagine how a nice discussion there could be? Ffs
I know I can limit what my child might see on their phone, but there are other children and other phones and you just can’t regulate like you want to.
Internet safety would be one concern but not all. It’s not that simple like you make it out to be.
So should we keep kids in theor rooms all day long every day so we can “protect” them 24/7?
And how am I being aggressive when you are the one swearing and the one who wants to pass needless laws?
Yeah, well, sorry. I was annoyed by people being unreasonable and either jumping to conclusions or not really interested in a constructive discussion. What’s the point in trying to have a discussion if there is nobody really trying?
I’ll just leave it at that.
Totally understand where you are coming from and sorry if I made it seem like I was not up for a discussion about this. I definitely enjoy hearing differing opinions on stuff like this.
The question then would be if it might cause other problems. A lot of places are moving to e-learning, for example, and might expect the students to have internet access of some form or other.
Whether that be in the form of smartphone apps/websites, or through a laptop that the school provides, at which point, it’s basically the same thing, especially if peer pressure puts them on social media or some such.
As I said in another comment if the parents are the ones to buy it then they can put heavy parental controls on the phones or tablets.
I use a work provided cellphone while I’m on my job site and they have that fucker so locked down I can’t even change the auto lock timing so I know you can lock tons of things with passwords on phones and tablets.
Idk anything about school laptops because I’m apparently old as fuck now and that wasn’t a thing when I was younger. But I would assume that they also use software to lock those down.
If they don’t create a new law then how will these parents impose their parenting on other families?
Honestly I would appreciate if they banned phone manufacturers from forcing Facebook, X, and other bullshit onto your phone. Making people go out and get it is one of the many intended barriers.
Also OEMs should not be succumbed by Google. Punkt has already introduced MC02 with option to install Google services.
Ya I would also enjoy a phone free from bloat.
The school I work at is implementing this starting next week.
Except it’s a music school so they can use metronome apps. Also, they can use it to send emails to the copy room to print music sheets. Or to use in class when it’s required. Or for whatever exception they can think of. And they actually expect us to enforce it with all these exceptions.
Yeah, I’m sure it will work /s
I guess it would be too much to get a set of metronomes eh.
No, it’s “better” to source materials for education from the students themselves. In the US, good luck learning if you don’t have the mandated school supplies. I’m sure if we didn’t need the state-sponsored daycare so adults can work, the administration would rather have all students be virtual.
My childhood was before smartphones but when the Internet already existed.
In my preteen and teen years, the Internet was more or less my only escape from my horrible offline life. I envy today’s kids that they can access it everywhere.
Everyone who wants to take that possibility away from any children, go have sexual intercourse with yourself.
My family doesn’t get smartphones until age 12. That seems to work well
I’m probably going to make it a rule that my kids don’t get them until 15. I’m 28 and have definitely been ruined by smartphones. My attention span is shit and motivation is hard to maintain when the internet is just right there.
I wish there was a device that only did the bare minimum of email, phone, texting, navigation, and music.
Minimalist productivity-first Android launchers might be what you’re looking for.
Those exist, there are a few products intended to provide that minimalist experience.
I remember getting mine at like 15.
Dumbphones still exist. The only reason a child needs a phone is to place a call during an emergency, so as far as I’m concerned, they should get them whenever they can be trusted not to use them in class.
I didn’t use mine in class because it wasn’t allowed and teachers would take it away if I did. Is that not a thing anymore? Or maybe just a german thing in the first place.
That being said, don’t need a smartphone to play games in class. I was a god at snake on my graphing calculator…
No, it isn’t universal. Teachers here quit trying basically as soon as smartphones became common.
For me it is equal parts paying attention in class, developing attention spans away from
video cracktiktok/shorts/whatever, and generally encouraging them to do other things.
Almost all the solutions I read in this thread go from one extreme to the other. Here are my PERSONAL perceptions:
Taking away children’s smartphones or limiting them is obviously not the solution, and if we did, in the process we would be violating multiple rights, to privacy, freedom, access to information, etc. There is no guarantee that they can be fulfilled in other ways.But children are not responsible enough to use ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) without adult supervision!
That is simply false, the responsibility and use they make of ICT is not something that is born by magic, it depends completely on the education they receive, if you say that your children are not responsible enough to use a phone as their parent you are the main responsible. From that, start thinking about how to educate them to be more responsible, not all parents are as good as you at making sure you don’t blind them.
Regarding privacy, there is a great discussion about parents and the privacy of children and adolescents, however, I will ask you some important questions.
Did you tell your parents everything? Didn’t you divide school life, friends, and family? What would have happened if you had had ultra-religious or extremist parents in some way who limited your way of acting and your access to information that they did not consider part of their values? These three things have been happening for a long time.
I also read in a comment that people don’t verify information. Many organizations, governmental, family, religious, etc. They don’t want people to verify what they’re told, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our voice count to make it happen.
Another thing I read is a problem mainly in the United States (I’m not from there) and it’s the iPhone, it’s not worth wasting your time here, I mean bullying still strongly exists there. They need a big change in their education as the first important step in the discussion, I wish them luck.
Everything has to do with everything, and the general economic situation in the world keeps parents working instead of taking care of their children, but at the same time if we leave them the cell phone we will get worse. Taking measures on our side is not going to help, we have to generate consensus on the use of ICT.Sorry for my English, I am learning the language and writing this text with the support of a translator, some things could not be expressed as I wanted.
EDIT: With translator, I mean google and LanguageTool.Credits to your “translator”
With translator, I mean some sentences were made with help of Google translator and language tool XD
Just saying, you definitely don’t have to say sorry for my english. Many natives speakers write worse than you do lol
Smartphones are great. Apps are user-hostile malware. Online spaces are, in the majority, traps. If every time you drove downtown you ended up in a corporate police state designed to play you and your friends off each other and make you all miserable so you look at more advertisements for shampoo, you would conclude that getting in the car is bad for you.
man? thats really well put. kudos.
would you mind if I screenshot’d your post to share with people or possibly post on bluesky
Sure
youre gonna be FUCKING famous dude
