[aprinsen]

Along these lines, I just purchased a low tech solution called a KSafe for personal use and I love it.

It's basically a safe with a timer and no override, so you can say, lock up for 2 hours, put your (de)vice inside, and push the button. The only way to open it early is to break the safe.

As someone who has struggled with impulse control, especially around technology, I have used it to great effect. Spent an uninterrupted two hours playing guitar and reading physical books for the first time in ages.

I use it personally, but I could see it being useful for families as well.

[boplicity]

When I was young (late eighties, early nineties), we had a device that controlled power to the TV. You had to type in a code to be able to turn it on; each kid in our family had a code, and each code had a certain amount of time allowed per week. Sounds similar -- but for a different era!

[lilyball]

I had one of these too! Though parents could override it if needed (which was generally done if e.g. we had a friend over, so we could play games together without using up all our weekly time).

[josephcsible]

Is the safe fragile enough that anyone can break it with just their bare hands? If not, then what if you need to call 911 while your phone's in there?

[dangrossman]

It's plastic. You could throw it on a hard floor, or hit it with a hammer, and it would break open. They sell replacement bases because people breaking their own safe open isn't terribly uncommon, and the locking part is all in the lid.

https://www.thekitchensafe.com/

[aprinsen]

You could break the safe with a hammer or by smashing it on the ground, as others have mentioned.

You know though, you are mostly using the safe in your own home or office, for increments of 30 minutes to a couple hours. For many folks I think the risk is very low.

I guess, I find this emergency access sentiment really similar to something my wife's students say when there phones are taken away: "what if my parents need to contact me in an emergency?"

It's a really sincere worry they have that seems totally foreign to me, having grown up in an era when my parents often couldn't contact me for hours at a time. Food for thought.

[gpvos]

Have a landline?

[josephcsible]

A lot of people don't these days.

[nelgaard]

Then just use one of your old cell phones and keep it charged. Even if it does not have a subscription, it can still dial 911/112

[gpvos]

Yeah, except they're turning off 2G now so my old Nokia 3210 can't connect anymore. The two newer phones I have had since then actually broke down.

[josephcsible]

Don't most people trade in their old phones to get their new ones for cheaper?

[stjohnswarts]

I would say a strong majority don't. I don't know anyone personally with a land line other than my mother

[eh9]

My wife and I both have ADHD and we couldn’t recommend this enough. So far, it’s helped us cut down on our weed habit and now I’m throwing the Xbox controllers in there because of my terrible impulse control.