[ordu]

> This looks like a smart kid from the description given. It's possible that he spent a good time reading recent literature about the drawbacks and decided not to join the masses. Or he just thought twice before following everyone.

Or it is a reaction to a parent obsession. I can imagine how a kid hates screens because parent spend more time with them then with the kid.

[xemdetia]

I don't have any insight but from just various anecdotes about kids getting smartphones I would say: they are now getting them in early primary school rather than late secondary school, exceptionally helicoptering parents have only become more obnoxious, and most kids are still pressed into many extracurriculars. If I was of the same mindset when I was child in this day's age being exposed to other children with completely obnoxious phone usage would be completely off-putting and I would not want any part of it. It might be that the observed negatives of having a smartphone as a child from peers and parents would be probably higher than any perceived benefit. Then with the way I see some parents help/press kids into after school activities many probably are crying for that separation to have a space away from their parents (which is one of the most valuable experiences schools provide), and so keeping that wall there is inevitably valuable.

[derefr]

I.e. the same reason for the creation of the "straightedge" subculture in the 90s: they had developed a revulsion to the mistakes they grew up around.

[m463]

I agree.

I think the way most teenagers walk this path is by being on different services than their parents ("facebook is for moms!")

There could also be an element of "this phone is more for you than for me", like if your employer "generously" gives you a cellphone.