[anon291]

Kids shouldn't have smartphones until much later, like late teenage years.

A flip phone for kids who are out of the house regularly with some contacts is fine.

No need to be a Luddite, but what do kids possibly get out of a phone? If I didn't have work and to chauffeur people around, id toss mine too.

[gib444]

Then first we need to fix the issues in the parents, especially those with only one kid, reading social media and low rent news sites, who believe their kid is constantly in immortal danger, thereby forcing the phone upon the kid, in an attempt to ease their insecurities

This aspect needs talking about way more especially when the parents don't admit to it and to being the instigator

The question isn't just "what do the kids get out of it", it's also what do the parents: they get surveillance and some kind of reassurance. But at what cost?

[anon291]

What mortal danger would necessitate a smart phone versus a dumb phone? I don't understand

[gib444]

It's the live GPS tracking they want. Kidnapping?

[anon291]

Unless you're divorced or super rich there's basically no reason to worry about kidnapping.

[gib444]

I know. That's not what the news and social media is telling people however.

[pendenthistory]

Until lately I thought messaging apps like WhatsApp is ok, but this summer my eleven year old niece has been depressed, crying at the summer lake house with extended family because she can see her friends hanging out on WhatsApp. Incredibly toxic. Basically she can't enjoy the adventures we have here because of it. Even a simple thing like group chats completely destroy their brains.

[marysol5]

Taking a kid away from their friends to do some "forced fun", is the issue here. No the group chat.

[NoPicklez]

You don't need to convince me, my point was that they can have them but with limited capabilities, like only being able to SMS and call.

[swiftcoder]

> No need to be a Luddite, but what do kids possibly get out of a phone?

In far more cases than is ideal, the phone gives them an element of freedom/safety from their living situation.

Imagine a kid whose own parents are abusing them, or an LGBT kid growing up in a deeply conservative family, and one day the government suddenly decides you don't deserve being able to connect with support resources...

[marysol5]

There's more than social media for that.....

[dgellow]

Based on what? Your personal feelings? You think kids don’t get anything from online content and interactions with other kids via their phone?

[anon291]

I get nothing but depression from online interactions with other people and nothing but joy with my in-person interactions. I'd rather my kids start drinking and hang out at a bar or develop a smoking habit and hang at a hookah cafe than make 'friends' online to be perfectly honest -- at least that's normal in the grand scheme of things. They wouldn't be the first teenagers to do that and it's healthier for your social life.

> online content

There is nothing that they get from online content on a phone that they would not get better on an actual computer. My children already have computers (raspberry pis) at home and don't need a phone to access content. Plus, unlike a phone, they are able to use a computer to create content which is a much better perspective with technology than the mindless consumption that is now commonplace.

[whazor]

I'm not 100% sure yet but I think an iPhone can be configured such that toxic social media apps cannot be used.

[recursive-call]

it’s incredibly simple. put parental controls on the phone. when i was a kid i couldn’t download any apps without my dad’s approval, and none of the major social medias have a functioning web experience on mobile, they just redirect you to the app store page