It’s a lady talking about raising her three sons without smartphones until 16 and without social media until 18. Do kids in America commonly end up having personal smartphones before 16? She talks about how one of her sons had to scan a QR code for schoolwork. He is some age younger than 16 so I find that a bit insane.
Healthy limitations seem to work better with screens and social media. Cell phones are powerful tools but also a door to a lot of addictive behavior.
In fact, I think I’m going to turn mine off and get some rest.
The problem, at least as I see it and I would love corrections and criticisms, is that children just cannot fathom the depravity of tech companies that benefit from their reliance on screen time.
I hope you don’t get notified about this reply and have a good rest.
I can only speak from my own experience raising a now teenager.
Abstinence tends to cause rebellion, especially when the child’s peers are all doing it. Healthy limitations set the stage for guidance.
It’s like the same thing with drugs, I want my kid to wait until he’s an adult until he experiments with drugs. I explain to him that his brain is still growing. But… that if he does have questions or if he ever needs a ride because him and his friends got drunk at a party, that I’m here, and I won’t be mad.
With electronics, I point out when games are causing addictive cycles. Try to help him see the difference between a game that’s actually fun and creative and one that’s just targeting his dopamine (we use different language, like excitement vs. enjoyment, or a game that feels grindy vs. actually being interesting). And we talk about microtransactions and other predatory behavior that’s basically gambling. And thankfully, he’s not caught up on FB, though he does use tiktok.
If I had him full-time, I would set boundaries around time. Encourage him to go touch grass more. And not be on social media before bed or first thing in the morning. Stuff like that.
Him not having a cell phone would mean I couldn’t text him as easily and share things with him (which is nice as we don’t see each other as often as I would like). And that he would be cut off from texting his friends. Or contacting me or his mom if he ever was at a party, and needed a ride because he didn’t feel safe.
All of that said, I would love regulations on some of this stuff. The way tech companies prey on children (and adults) is disgusting.
And… I took a break from my phone, mostly because of tendonitis. Been awake and cleaning :) Now I’m typing and on my computer, so my wrists are still getting a nice rest.
That makes sense. Thank you.