Smart phone ban for children

[Signalbox]

Following the tragic death of teenager Brianna Ghey, Brianna's mum is calling for a ban on children having unrestricted use of smart phones.

AIBU to think that this is a really great idea.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h9h4nt

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-68197138

Banning phones - is short hand though and I think its better to be more precise about what is being said here

Its unrestricted access to violence, porn, unsafe people, risky forums/threads, unmonitered or unsafe social media sites - this is the problem

Phones can supply all that if they are smart phones and are unmonitored and on the child 24/7 so thats why this is being said like this.

It needs to be described better. Dont let your kid into the equivalent of a drugs and sex den where there are threats of harm and exposure to frightening or dangerous behaviour, thats what people are saying

However how you do this, I dont know.

Yes well put. This is what I should have said in my OP.

It needs to be described better. Dont let your kid into the equivalent of a drugs and sex den where there are threats of harm and exposure to frightening or dangerous behaviour, thats what people are saying

This. For those arguing for education you can educate children about something bad without giving them unrestricted access to that thing.

Banning phones or the internet isn’t the answer. Most children have access to computers at home and for a lot of those children the restrictions are non existent or not sufficient but the parents are ignorant of this or fooled into thinking that they have suitable controls and observation. It’s rarely foolproof and often children are better with technology that their parents.

No, I don't agree that they should be banned. Parents should monitor them more.

SOME social media sites need to take responsibility. Twitter/X is full of porn. All other social media sites seem to be able to block this but not that one.

Social media sites would take responsibility if all the countries where their advertising revenue comes from would charge much higher taxes if they did not.

My dd has had a smartphone since she was 6 due to medical conditions requiring her to carry one at all times. She’s a teenager now, she has never looked up anything inappropriate or sent any nasty messages etc etc

I think the initial idea makes sense if developed properly.

We used to have mobile phones that only made and receive phone calls and text. We have simple mobile phones for older users.

It is therefore not impossible to develop phones that allow phone calls, texts and apps for health monitoring but with no (very limited) access to social media or the internet.

No child needs a phone that has the ability to access porn or social media. I would like to see a study on the impact of children (sadly primarily boys) being able to access porn etc. on their phones on the increase of VAWG. Also a study of the impact of social media on children’s mental health.

This is much wider that the sad murder of Brianna and about the mental health of current and future children.

I don't see how you'd realistically enforce it.

I would love this, if sudden ‘dumb’ phones became all the rage with kids!
The genie is out of the bottle though.
Our kids have no Social Media at all age 14 and 11 and I would highly recommend that.

It's called parenting.

I teach in a secondary school and lots of parents can't be bothered with the arguments of saying NO to a child, so let them do as they please.

I have no issue with my teenager having a smart phone, BUT I get to choose which apps he can and can't have, and I use family link to make sure I can monitor his phone usage, and limit how much time he can spend on certain apps. I have very clear rules/boundaries and he knows the consequence if he breaks them. (e.g. no phone at all).

Absolutely no phone in his room at night. I am so bored of teenagers that are not getting enough sleep due to being on their phones at night!

At my school phones are banned. Any phone spotted is confiscated and the parent collects it. This is to limit bullying during school hours.

The messages I've seen (Snapchat etc...) and screenshots that my tutor group have shown me are often quite vile and it's no wonder some kids feel like shit when they receive messages like that from cowards who hide behind an app.