Should smart phones be banned for under 16s?

paradigm said:
Exactly. My daughters phone can’t install any app without my (or my wife’s) permission. She can only access certain apps outside of the dedicated screen time hours, and communication is restricted to trusted contacts.
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That is the fine line and how far do you go? If you suppress too much you end up with a child that goes off the rails later down the line.

My daughter is a teenager and we like to give her a bit of independence within reason. You don't let them use the apps like her friends do they just end up becoming social outcasts.

I have known girls through my daughter like you mentioned who have ended up getting "burner" phones from school friends because of how much control they are having put on them.
 
adam cool dude said:
You were saying it is all down to the parents yet the government has laws against alcohol and smoking because children cannot be trusted.
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no the law is because if a 12 years old went out on a bender with the lads they would die.
and just to be clear that's also down to the parents, if you bring your kids up in a crack flat and all the kids see is that... that's how life go's your just breeding it into them.


be a grow up, and set an example. you see people saying god all kids want to do is use the internet, phones and computers. and that very person sits and plays with there phone 12 hr's a day
 
Here in NZ phones are not allowed during the school day. The new(ish) Government made a big deal about it even though most schools had already chosen to take this action due to the disruption they can cause. I'm fine with this.

I get a little uncomfortable with outright bans though.
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
Here in NZ phones are not allowed during the school day. The new(ish) Government made a big deal about it even though most schools had already chosen to take this action due to the disruption they can cause. I'm fine with this.

I get a little uncomfortable with outright bans though.
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Think it's only a matter of time before schools take action. Probably too much time though.
 
adam cool dude said:
That is the fine line and how far do you go? If you suppress too much you end up with a child that goes off the rails later down the line.

My daughter is a teenager and we like to give her a bit of independence within reason. You don't let them use the apps like her friends do they just end up becoming social outcasts.

I have known girls through my daughter like you mentioned who have ended up getting "burner" phones from school friends because of how much control they are having put on them.
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Seen it happen a bit - don't really want to go too much into details but involves religion. Kid(s) end up resenting their parents and/or go off the rails and/or overcompensate the other way as adults.
 
Ban phones in schools until A levels. I also think that everyone should be issued a number by a regularity body, perhaps at the age of 13 and schools should be able to block numbers issued to anyone that is not old enough to be doing A levels. Having an issued number would also help with spam/scam calls.
 
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jeffk said:
Smart phones aren’t all that new. A 16-year old wasn’t even born when the iPhone was first released. Spurs have even won a trophy more recently than when the first iPhone was released!

Smart phones are useful tools. Education is better than prohibition.
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The parents will be more attached to the dopamine drip themselves.
 
Rroff said:
The number of times I see people wander out into the road, without looking, while glued to their phone makes me shudder - I'm surprised more aren't hit. Bit off topic for this thread though.
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Being a cyclist it is my number one hate because even Mothers with pushchairs will just drop off the kerb looking at their phone, look up for a car because they know the car won't be in that first 3 foot of the road and then carry on.
I then have to break hard but I have been watching them and then shout "Good job I wasn't a car".
Also keeping with this thread, kids are easily the worst for this but they don't stop in certain areas.
 
I probably won't make my children wait until 16 , but they will definitely be in their teens before i even think about allowing them to have one. School bullying is bad enough without being reachable at home. I've seen the effect it has had on other kids of their age and don't fancy that happening to mine. Should they be banned? No, and i don't see how it could be enforced either beyond parental intervention or confiscation at school.
 
I don't think they should be banned but I do think parents should have be more responsible for how & when they are used.

I've basically got my daughter set up how it sounds Paradigm has, today she has had 18 mins of screen time where she wanted to call her cousin who also has a smart phone because they are both going somewhere together tomorrow due to the Easter break.

She has a Smartphone & a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, however her devices are linked to mine and no social media type apps are installed. She's got some games on them & YouTube kids. She's also got myself & my wife as contacts on the phone so she can SMS message us & call us when needed along with some other family although she doesn't take it to school with her of course (she's only just turned 6) she does take it if she goes out with anyone else such as grandparents in case she wants to call either of us & we can also GPS track it. Also long car journeys, she can sit & play her games/watch TV if & when she likes.

She's also got her own bank account with a debit card (Prepaid, we have to transfer funds into it), she's got the app on her phone so she can see what she's got in it & we're trying to start teaching her to manage her own money now, when she wants something now she has to save up for it & buy it herself.
 
200sols said:
The parents will be more attached to the dopamine drip themselves.
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That's the biggest issue. They copy their parents. And many parents would rather use their phones than play with their kids. This is why at home, at dinner etc... we leave our phones in the hall, until the kids are in bed. Even for our guests we have a no phone rule at the dinner table.
 
paradigm said:
My 3 year old has a smart phone (iPhone SE 2022), she’s had it since she was 2 and HAS to have it with her at all times so that we can receive her blood glucose readings when she’s not with us (nursery, babysitter, etc), and so that the same carers have a device that they can use to monitor blood glucose and administer insulin through her pump.
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What would you have done before this tech existed?
 
danlightbulb said:
What would you have done before this tech existed?
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She’d have had a worse quality of life and a lower life expectancy. She would have had to have upwards of 10-20 skin piercing glucose tests a day and any number of manual insulin injections. Those environments caring for her would have needed medically trained staff on hand rather than just trained in two apps by a diabetic nurse, and we as parents would have had no way of knowing if there was a problem arising, instead waiting, being reactive and not proactive.

Additionally her medical team would have to have more frequent manual reviews rather than constant data which they can adjust her care plan against.

In short, she would be far worse off.
 
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