James BakerMay 22, 2024
I do think younger children shouldn’t have smart phones but once they start travelling to school alone they do provide a lot of safety features such as the ability to call emergency services or a parent or to share your location. A total smart phone can for older children would I think be a net harm to their safety.
Show threadTom Stoneham

@JamesBaker I am puzzled why everyone is reaching for a ban. It seems the wrong tool to solve a complex social problem.

What is really being banned is *parents* buying smartphones for their children (or otherwise allowing it).

Some do it because they think the benefits outweigh the risk of harm. Others just cave in to pressure. Yet others don't understand the risks of harm.

A ban outlaws the good parents and treats the weak/bad parents as incorrigible failures.

#ReguloSolutionism will fail

May 22, 2024 at 9:55amWeb
Show threadJames BakerMay 22, 2024
@tomstoneham It is complex courses on how to set parental controls, maybe an advertising campaign that encourages parents to check them. But also they do have benefits many teenagers relied on them during lockdown. A clear safety benefit if you have family location sharing and the ability for a child to phone if stuck in town etc
Show threadJames BakerMay 22, 2024
@tomstoneham but a simplistic ban won’t work and would also be totally unenforceable and also punish responsible parents and children who use it to access the world of information. When children grow up their employers will expect them to be in their smart phone so we need to train children to use them as a tool.