DO NOT give your kid a smartphone this Christmas

I meant tracking. Predictive text changed what I wrote 🙄. No, no ipad, only a work one, which we can use for personal use. Maybe Samsung will bring something similar out.

@taxguru yep and some of us parent by realising that is too hard for our kids (maybe not all kids, but mine) to self-limit on these devices so we don't have them.

We have had a global financial crisis, austerity, recession, pandemic, wars breaking out in previously peaceful countries, wildfires, riots, the list goes on and on.

I'm not sure access to information is the issue so much as the information that they have access to is really scary.

The question shouldn't be "how do we limit teenagers access to the world" it should be "how do we support teenagers to navigate the world that they are a part of".

I teach 18-21 year olds. An increasing number of them are too anxious to attend classes face to face and cannot cope with direct questions even if they do come to class. Assessments like presentations are out of the question because of the anxiety it causes such a huge number of them (we’re talking a third of the cohort). Time keeping is very poor as is taking initiative. Study skills are shocking for a high ranking institution. So I would say that we already have a generation who will at least struggle in employment. My DP works in an industry that takes on a lot of grads and he would back it up - he has some real horror stories including people who have been unable to work due to being up all night gaming.
Doing well at school means little when school involves teaching little to no resilience, pandering to every single discomfort someone has and spoon feeding all information to them.

Surely it's less about the physical smart phones and the unfettered access to the internet and social media. My children are still too young for smart phones being only 6 and 8, but will most likely get one around the age of 11 when they will be out with friends, walking home from school alone and much more independent. That doesn't mean that they will be allowed access to SM or be allowed there phones 24/7. There will be restrictions on phone usage but it'll be invaluable for keeping in touch with them, a tracking app for safety - and for them to message friends as they get older.

I do think that parents should be more aware of what their kids are watching on YouTube or viewing on social media though.

Non smartphones do the same thing

Why don't you watch the 2 hours or so of recent programming on channel 4.

Why are so many parents so defensive of smart phones? We all know they're bad

@housethatbuiltme nah, not all those things have an equally negative impact on children. But I think your "rounded education" is bullshit and we are using tech too much.

Nail on the head.

When bus passes, school meals, etc are on apps, the ship has long since sailed.

Add into that, schools who've embraced homework apps, encouraging phone camera use in science experiments, even setting classwork based on apps and online research/online quizzes in lessons themselves! I've even heard of a local school who now do their register and lesson attendance monitoring via apps on pupil's phones!

The genie is out of the bottle. Like with banking apps, car park apps, etc. The future is a World controlled and managed by Apps. We need to wake up and smell the coffee to how the World is today and how it will look in 5 years time!

As you rightly say, it's up to parents to actually parent, control what their kids are doing, set parental controls on their devices, talk to them, monitor them, nurture them, etc. Parents have to take responsibility!

And the police ask if you have any way of tracing them. A police force recently put out a statement suggesting that all parents of teenagers should have tracking apps installed on their kids phones. I'm sorry, I can't find the article, it was maybe a month ago.

I think it was in part a response to the teenagers involved on the Southport riots and parents being responsible even if they weren't there. It was an interesting perspective.

@Stompythedinosaur I don't know about employment but the mental health stats for kids are not great.

Nailed it 🤣

I got a mobile at 8 year old (not smart as they didn't exist in the 90s), I probably use my smart phone less than anyone I know, its never been more than a tool to me... hate the damn thing really.

My DS got his smart phone at 8 too, 8 years ago... he is also completely uninterested in phones, he forgets it even exists most the time.

Phones are a safety device and smart phones are just phones with the internet. Internet used on multiple devices as part of a rounded education.

You are posting on the same internet, from a device, to a completely unnecessary social forum. So you CLEARLY aren't anti screens, anti technology, anti internet so your just hypocritical and weird. People said all this shit about computers, laptops, the internet etc... yet here you are being like everyone else.

Yes but if my kid is stuck somewhere without money I can buy a ticket from home and it will appear in their app. Can't do that with a paper ticket. Bus stops round here don't have screens so if the bus doesn't show they have no info without the app live map/running times. If they get on the wrong bus/train and don't know where they are I can help them because I can see where they are/they can look on Google maps and find out what bus they need or where to walk.

But they can literally be life savers too.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/17/children-swiped-channel-4-smartphones-mental-health-addiction, I thought this was really interesting.

I will hold out for as long as possible with DS. He watches a lot of TV and games a lot but on screens around us not a small personal one. He has no social media and doesn't play any online games with any chat or text chat enabled. He's not allowed YouTube anymore. We're a gaming family but some things are far more destructive than others. People let the whole world into their living rooms and give them access to their kids.

@Tarraleah my son is indeed home educated (the correct term) but that doesn't mean he's never allowed out of my sight. However he could go out when he's older and neck vodka and smoke weed but that doesn't mean I have to stock a liquor cabinet for him, does it. And he would necessarily drink less if he couldn't drink at home, just like a kid who's allowed to sit on their phone at home will spend more time on it than one who only gets to look at a friend's.

Thanks @WasThatACorner
My eldest is heading to secondary school Sept 26 so they've not got phones yet. I'm just trying to learn more in preparation , I watched the dispatches show 'swiped' the other days and was horrified.

They're probably not dead in a ditch. Why is everybody so anxious?!

I think eventually smartphones will be banned for under 16s and be in the same category as smoking and sex.

We know they're terrible for kids and I think we'll look back with incredulity that it was ever okay to give one to a child.

My children benefit from the independence their phones give them.

What kind of independence do they benefit from that children in pre-mobile phone generations did not have?

A hell of a lot less genuine independence in my experience.

I only use my mobile to call/text people when I am out or for Google maps if I get lost.

My adult dc are similar but they also use Instagram and occasionally facebook.

My 14 year old uses his to call dh if he wants a lift. He has to be reminded to take it with him though.

My 11 and 10 year olds haven't got them.

I don't mind my dc having phones as long as they are not on social media before aged about 16. I really don't want them staring at screens like zombies though. And it always seems worse when there is quite a few children and they are all staring at phones. When I was that age then a big family get together or a wedding etc was a good opportunity to run around playing a game that's more fun with lots of people.

Also my 13 and 10 year old's struggle to sleep so I try and limit their screen time in the day as much as possible. Every family is different though and I know that some children need more screen time than others.

Too late got my kids one about 4 years ago.

I like to track them and keep in contact.

They know all of the dangers I'm constantly telling them.

I agree and think in 10 year's time we'll all be more careful.

We have Google family link which is good for controlling what they do on their phones and downtime.

Our current problem is mindless YouTubers. We've banned YouTube but my son has found some YouTubers on Amazon prime! He can watch them for hours

I've recently found out that a lot of online services are not covered by ofcom. I'm hoping that in the future, any media that is consumed in a country can be covered by it's information regulations.

Yes, 100%.

It's also possible to speak to your teenager about why they want access to alcertain things and how that could be managed if you feel it could be appropriate.

But they could be dead in a ditch and you’d be lulled into a false sense of security because you just think they aren’t replying due to having no battery.