Children: Slaves to the Smartphone?

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BBC World Service - Business Daily, Children: Slaves to the Smartphone?

In a hyper-connected world what are smartphones doing to us and our children?
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We hear from father Tim Farnum who noticed his children became withdrawn and moody after getting their smartphones. It moved him to set up PAUS - Parents Against Underage Smartphones - which is campaigning to get sales of smartphones banned for under 13s in Colorado, USA. But is this technology really to blame for mood changes in young people? Psychologist Jean Twenge shares the findings of her latest book about mental health and smartphone use in our youngest generation.
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It’s not just mental health but the ability to think critically is also likely impacted.
 
Anything people do that substitutes parenting is going to be bad for children.

Smartphones are just the easiest way to do it.

My 10yo niece has a smartphone. She also has ADHD, Asbergers, and trouble motivating herself. She had little electronic access before that. She uses the phone as a communication device, to keep her calendar and daily checklist and to play Pokemon Go! which has her running in circles all the day long, which combats her desire to isolate herself and hide in her room.

An outright ban for under 13 would be TERRIBLE for her. She’s moved leaps and bounds in her academics and social life because of it. It would be great if she had it when she was 8 or 9.

People need to parent wisely. Rather than banning screens a parent should both display good habits and help children form their own.
 
Do you mean she did use the phone, but now she is banned until 13?

I also have add. Electronic things tend to be more addictive for people with add and adhd sometimes.
 
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JamalChristophr said:
Do you mean she did use the phone, but now she is banned until 13?

I also have add. Electronic things tend to be more addictive for people with add and adhd sometimes.
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No, I am saying that a ban like the article suggests, which would be enforced on all children 13 and younger, would be devastating to her.

And yes, electronics are known to be more addicting to those with ADD and ADHD, but when it is introduced as a tool and not a toy–and makes such a HUGE difference in a child’s life they are far less likely to abuse it.

For my niece, the phone is her pocket command center. It makes up for everything her brain lacks and allows her to operate on the level of social norms.

I cried tears of joy the first time she engaged with children she didn’t know at a playground. She was playing Pokemon rather than sitting on a swing, silent. When she got excited other children heard her. She actually SPOKE to them. Moments later she was playing “Pokemon” with them and handed me the phone for safekeeping.

She was 10, and it was the first time she’d ever spoken to a child she didn’t know. And it was because of the phone.

I’d go mama bear if someone tried to tell me that it was bad for her. It changed her life…and I wish for her, that it happened 3 or 4 years prior.
 
Maybe just take the smartphone away from your depressed kid instead of asking Daddy-government to do it for you?
 
There’s a lot of things the US needs to do. For instance, smaller drink sizes.

I agree, an outright ban could be bad for some children. Perhaps they should design a device specifically for special needs kids?

I agree with the OP as well. Kids are becoming addicted to technology. This can be disastrous because this is the time when kids should be playing outdoors and learning motor functions skills. Some apps can be detrimental to kids, causing them to focus too much on how they look. Too much technology time can lead someone to be slow in developing social skills.

The entertainment industry is grossly influencing our society. Sometimes I feel like that’s all people want to do anymore, is just be entertained.
 
misstherese said:
There’s a lot of things the US needs to do. For instance, smaller drink sizes.

I agree, an outright ban could be bad for some children. Perhaps they should design a device specifically for special needs kids?

I agree with the OP as well. Kids are becoming addicted to technology. This can be disastrous because this is the time when kids should be playing outdoors and learning motor functions skills. Some apps can be detrimental to kids, causing them to focus too much on how they look. Too much technology time can lead someone to be slow in developing social skills.

The entertainment industry is grossly influencing our society. Sometimes I feel like that’s all people want to do anymore, is just be entertained.
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There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. The beauty of the smartphone is that the apps can tie into parent’s apps or things they can easily check online to ensure safety. Once you start making specialty devices prices go up and so does stigma, unfortunately.

As my husband said. 49% of parents let their children have free and unfettered access so they can avoid parenting. 49% of the parents are so terrified of electronics they ban their children and cause them to be unable to function in the modern world, with only 2% be given a valid balance.

Now, I don’t think those numbers are accurate, I’d say more 80/15/5 but the fact remains…this is a parenting issue. Just like the drinks. A child dosn’t need the government to regulate drink cup size, they need a reasonable parent to teach them.

Even my 1yo knows that after a handful of goldfish she should eat something else, like fruit. This is a parenting issue, not a legal one.
 
JamalChristophr said:
Yes, that is true for me too to a certain degree.
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To which you can probably understand my position that it would be cruel to deny that to her based on age when we know that it is not immaturity but disability that causes her to be unable to act in a normative social way.
 
ChunkMonk said:
Maybe just take the smartphone away from your depressed kid instead of asking Daddy-government to do it for you?
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Agree with you on the not daddy-goverment. Disagree that simply taking the phone will help…by the time the child is so depressed urgent actions need to be taken, it is too late just to take the phone.

A parent is far better off teaching their child how to cope in the world of electronics from a young age and monitoring use and gauging what is allowed day by day and situation by situation than simply yanking a phone from a depressed child.
 
I would seriously ration Pokemon go however. That’s a time waster and add kids generally have poor self control with some things.

My biggest problem in school was that I just had very little motivation to do it. And it will take add kids much longer generally to do their homework at home. It just takes a lot more effort and hands on parenting but definitely not nagging. That is unproductive.
 
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JamalChristophr said:
I would seriously ration Pokemon go however. That’s a time waster and add kids generally have poor self control with some things.
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The positive is that one must exercise to do much of anything. While gym battles are stationary in order to get things to battle you have to go around to pokestops. At least in my area–and for my niece, this means walking around her block many, many times. Unlike older pokemon games that were just screen-based Pokemon go is all about moving.

Given her weight issues, and her tendency to not want to move, any time she spends on it is well spent.
 
Sounds reasonabke as long as she gets her homework done. One big danger for some adds kids is that social skills can lag way behind so that’s a good area to focus on
 
JamalChristophr said:
Sounds reasonabke as long as she gets her homework done. One big danger for some adds kids is that social skills can lag way behind so that’s a good area to focus on
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Yep. Before the smartphone homework was WAY more of an issue, mostly because she didn’t focus in school at all, and the school would expect her to cover the entire day’s materials at home. With the phone she stays on task in class, gets no extra homework and many days even gets her homework done during study hall. 😍 Two years previous this child was bringing home backpacks worth of homework.

What occurred is that she was set to fail 3rd grade. She had failed first and had to repeat. Due to NCLB she could not legally repeat and was being forced to 4th. I homeschooled her for free, under the conditions that she be assessed for learning disabilities–which her old school refused. She tested in at early 2nd grade in August, by the time the year was over in June she was testing at high 6th.

And the smartphone was a big part of it. Now she’s excelling as a 5th grader.

But again, even after many months, she knows it is a tool.

And that’s the thing. It’s an ongoing conversation with her mom, every day, every situation.

And yes, the social is a BIG thing. Being able to connect with her peers changes her whole school experience…she participates! Which circles back to her actually getting educated during the day and not having homework battles.

Again, if you were able to see and experience what I saw there would be no doubt that a smartphone is THE right choice for this child.
 
I disagree with a ban on phones for children. Smartphones are a tool that can be abused like any other. Like all things, parents need to be monitoring their children’s usage. Children need time away from screens to learn and grow, so parents should have days or times where smartphones are off limits. Some examples:
  • No smartphones at the dinner table.
  • No smartphones after bed. (have a drawer or something to store them for the night)
  • Designated quiet time for reading or praying, no phones allowed.
  • Family nights for board games or outdoor recreation (riding bikes, shooting hoops, etc.)
It’s not just about rules though because children need to know why these rules are there. One reason is just about respecting the people you are with. Most people have had the bad experience of trying to talk to someone but finding them more interested in their phone. It doesn’t feel good when people do that to us, so we don’t subject others to the same thing. When spending time with others, we pay attention to them and only use the phone during downtime. Parents can find many more reasons reading a few books on this.
 
Funny you mention time limits. I was talking about them on another thread.

Whether I like it or not, my children are going to grow up in a world that will expect them to be 100% proficient in technology. What I can do as a parent is to introduce them to technology in a way in which they learn to respect it. For a 1yo this means the tablet is “just another toy” that mommy lets her play with. Honestly, its probably less annoying (to me) and less flashy than some of her blinking toys that have no screens but require batteries. She has one “drum” set that is sooooooooo inane.

Like you suggested, time limits and expected outdoor time is a must.

For my niece, age 10, it meant strict rules on Wii and on TV shows but completely free use of a smartphone (see above) to help with her disabilities. And between her mother and I, it WORKS.
 
I don’t think the stimulation you get from a smartphone is necessary for really young children, but that’s the parents’ decision.

Smartphones helped me a lot (got it when I was 13) because I was able to use the internet to get answers to anything I was afraid to ask my parents, it was also a good way to distract myself when I feel upset

The downside was that I can find anything I want. That includes porn, harmful tips (eg pro anorexia sites) and such.

Anyway, parents need to take control instead of asking for a ban. That’s ridiculous. My parents took great joy in taking away my phone when I was showing a little attitude, lol. Anyway, being tech savvy is very important, so a total ban won’t help. Children this age are probably using computers in school anyway. My sister knows how to take down YouTube videos when she was 10 (because my dad accidentally uploaded something).

Moderation is key
 
This may sound strange, but it is possible that kids with ADD may be less susceptible to being slaves to smart phones. I find that I (who have ADD) don’t check it and mess with it as much as most people, from what I observe. For me, it is not really high stimulation enough to get hooked on. I don’t play games on it, though. For me, laptops are the venue for games.
 
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