To want "smart" phones banned for under 16's..

[Godknows22]

With yet another deeply distressing news story about the literally deadly effects that the internet is having on our children.. Why are we allowing the most precious people in our lives access to the internet via smart phones on a constant basis when they are clearly not ready for it. The internet is not ready for our children with all it's harmful content and our teens/children are too young to handle the online world that smart phones expose them to. Can't we take back control? Please protect your child and others by buying your child a standard mobile phone not a smart phone. They will still have a phone to make calls and text without all the stress and danger of a smart phone. If we all joined together and so no to smart phones imagine the difference; no more being ignored while they are glued to the screen, dealing with phone addiction, arguments about thier phones, no more watsapp groups, no more cyber bullying (imagine that)!, no harmful social media at thier fingertips, less likely to be robbed for their expensive "smart" phone.. The list goes on.. Smart phones are literally a danger to our children, why are we doing this to them? It is up to us to ensure our children grow up in a healthy environment. Why are we giving them constant access at thier fingertips to an extremely unhealthy enviroment? Why are we doing that to the people we love the most? Please be smart and don't give your child a smart phone. Here is a link to the best non smart phones on the market: theinformr.co.uk/cell-phones/p/best-basic-phone-10094/

Always makes me laugh when people shout about the nanny state. Particularly in regard to children.

The state does tell us what children can and cannot do prohibiting marriage, drink, dangerous work and requiring them to be educated. Children need someone to set down these rules and if parents can’t or won’t then the state will. I am happy to have a state that looks after children in this way.

It is beyond parents to control social media. Imho we could do with a helping hand from the state or whichever authorities we are engaged with. So if schools restricted smart phone use I’d be right behind them. How they would enforce it is just how they would enforce any other rules they have, most of which have far less impact on children’s well-being. If the state helped us achieve six hours a day without social media for children that would be worth having.

It’s like school meals - they may account for only 5 out of 21 meals a week but for poor children they have a real impact. And if those 5 could be 5 good meals, so much the better for all of us. Nanny state, feeding our children

100% agree OP, I am so glad we didn't have smartphones and social media as a young teen.

I don’t agree. I think it is very important to teach self regulation rather than banning things outright. I would be more in favour of raising the age for social media, though that will just lead to people doing things in secret, as they do now.

The Internet was a lifeline for me growing up in an abusive household. I met friends online that I still have today over 25 years later and without them I wouldn’t be here. It has some bad parts, but it is about teaching people how to avoid or deal with those and putting safeguards in place like parental controls.

I would never support the government being able to control what comes up online as I believe that is a very slippery slope and I really dislike the current nanny state. Besides which, with VPN and tor it becomes impossible anyway and most teens are aware of those now.

You need to breed a space where you can have open and honest communication with children and young teens and banning something has never been conducive to that

Wholeheartedly agree @barbedbloom

Yes self discipline is very important. And for most of us the answer. But we don’t give kids unlimited access to chocolate 24 hours a day and tell them to regulate themselves. (And where we have done this we have paid the price).

Can't we take back control? I have control, and I do not need to ban my dd from having a smart phone.

Most people call it snooping though. I call it keeping her safe. I make sure I know about the apps she has, the friends she has, and who she follows. I don't only "friend" her but I have passwords too, and they cannot be changed without my knowledge. I also check her activity at random times. I have educated her. I taught her about the internet, it's good and bad points. I taught her what she can do, and can't do.

In the same way that I wouldn't let her drive a car with teaching her, I won't let her navigate the internet without teaching her.

So many parents give their child a phone and admit they know nothing about the internet, that's just not good enough these days. And blaming the internet instead of looking at what we as parents should be doing is a fools game, because it teaches you, and them nothing.

bangs head

@rightreckoner I am not sure if your comment was directed at me, but if so just to clarify that I was not advocating for unlimited use of smartphones or the internet, simply for teaching self regulation while also having in place parental controls, rather than an outright ban. Limits and boundaries are also important with children and teens, but part of raising them to be independent adults is teaching them how to make the appropriate decision in certain circumstances.

This is also why I wouldn’t outright ban junk food and would also introduce the odd glass of wine on special occasions at home for teenagers. A guided introduction to something before they are shoved out into the world and expected to know it all