my general experience with this: i didn’t get one until 17, and the only time it was inconvenient was when i needed to schedule a pick-up time for the bus stop with my parents, since i’d have to rely on someone else’s phone. beyond that though, didn’t really have an issue not having a phone; even now, i mostly just use it when we go out and it’s not my primary mode of communication.

As someone who was on computers being social from a very young age, I really don’t get why there’s so much push back on the smartphone, rather than setting healthy boundaries and having important discussions with children. As the article states, there’s basically no correlation of smartphone use with just about anything, except a lower life satisfaction score one year after high use of social media in a longitudinal study, but this probably holds true for many adults as well.

To me it seems like the big factors here is that a parent needs to be involved with their child’s use of a smartphone and involved in their child’s life in a way that many people aren’t nowadays. You need to be having regular conversations about the kids emotional state, how they perceive the world, some kinda check-in system to proactively identify where problems might arise and how to navigate complicated concepts with regards to socialization, mental health, and well-being.

I also think the article points out something important, and certainly relevant in my life. I couldn’t wait to grow up because as a child, no one listened to me, my concerns, my needs, my wants, and they were incredibly hypocritical about what I was allowed to do and not do

“Children hate hypocrisy,” says Livingstone. “They hate feeling they’re being told off for something that their parents do, like using the phone at mealtimes or going to bed with a phone.”

I think many parents take the lazy approach of not explaining adult concepts to their children and simply walling them off from experiencing the world. While some children might ultimately be okay with this, it doesn’t work for everyone and I don’t think it’s the right way to treat children.

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giving them a laptop or desktop (ideally an easy to use GNU/Linux) would be most beneficial for learning purposes. i know some children who greatly benefited because of that… give them smartphones as well, but teach the children how to use it for the good.

I’d go a long way not to give a kid a smartphone until it is at least 12. Instead I’d surround the kid with laptops, consoles and desktops. The mobile gaming is a hazard imo

With parental control since 12, and unrestricted access by 16 :p

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First of all, my sons are fortunate to have parents that rarely use their phones. They’ve seen some of their peers, for the past 3 or 4 years, using phones incessantly and can’t understand why they’re wasting their time.

We have always set limits with media intake (PS5, PC gaming, YouTube, etc) and have explained to them why. So, they understand that their minds/emotions/friendships are developing and too much media intake can interfere with it.

As a family, we try to spend as much time outdoors as possible. We go for long nature walks, mountain hikes, swimming, car camping, etc. Their closest friends share similar restrictions with media intake and most of them would rather be riding bikes or playing school sports.

They asked us when it would be appropriate to have a phone. Our answer was when they are able to pay for it themselves. They didn’t complain and agreed.