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I agree that the best thing is to not give them smartphones but sometimes parents do not agree between them. Sometimes close friends and family will say you are too hard on your kids.

Some parents just don't realise how bad this is or they don't care.

Sometimes it's the grandparents who give them the smartphone and what you wanted to do is nullified and you are seen as bad because you deny to give them something "so good".

No, all in all, a global, robust solution need to be imposed by the governments. Like for tobacco, like for alcohol or drugs.

I have the problem with my daughter and I hate all this social media and stupid ad-based videogames in the smartphones.

This is when technology makes the world worst, the companies just seek their interest.

Respectfully - I must say, I feel as though you have a lot more control over how your daughter uses her smartphone than you think you do. In my eyes, smartphone usage cannot be compared to toxins like alcohol/drugs/tobacco, a global solution is impractical in this case.

I don't have kids, so that aspect I can't comment about. But I was a kid one time and keeping me away from a screen (after I got the taste of them) was challenging. They caved.

A direct comparison to toxins is hard indeed, but how about gambling? It obviously has enough addiction potential to induce certain people into compulsive and destructive behaviour warranting regulation. The same research that's been done in the gambling industry is being used in social media and especially mobile gaming today.

A global solution != a European solution/framework.

I agree with you but also: I gave my young daughter her own Android phone last week. Google Family Link is fantastic. It prevents her from using a web browser or any other things I don't want her to do. All she can do is message people, call people & look at maps. It turns itself the phone off an hour before bedtime. She can get headlines from Google search, which I didn't expect, but it's not proven a problem since the links can't be opened. The usage tracker shows she spent almost an hour messaging/calling yesterday, which is more than I expected, but if it gets too much then I can limit it. One happy customer here.

Nice features, with a helping of ad company surveillance on the side.

When your kid turns 13 (or maybe it was 14), Google decides they're an adult now and takes the reins away from you. We just went through this with our teen

Google asks your kid, and they can pick either way. You can tell them "Hey, this is a device I bought for you, using a cell phone service I pay for, so either reenroll in supervision or I'm taking my device back". A little harsh, but... then you still get roughly the same level of control as before.

Looks like you're right. I don't remember it occurring this way in late 2021, so I wonder if the implementation changed at all since then, but it could also be poor attention to detail on my part

Could you point me in a direction that I can research for this? It seems interesting.

I don't trust social media companies to self-regulate this kind of stuff at all.

Looks like the other replies here are correct. It's law-driven and can be worked around.

https://support.google.com/families/answer/7106787?hl=en

This one's an anecdote I found when searching just now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/z4r77a/google_fami...

https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/COPPA-Childr...

> When your kid turns 13 (or maybe it was 14), Google decides they're an adult now and takes the reins away from you.

Google stops locking in to behavior that is a direct response to age-related government regulations and defaults to the choice of the registered user at exactly the age the regulatiom ceases to apply?

Weird.

Didn't know about COPPA's role in this. Thanks for pointing that out

(Not a parent, but have been thinking about this for a long time)

There are situations where I'd think not giving a device to my kids wouldn't necesarily be all benefits

People that do get smartphones will develop ways of interacting, which you only "get" when you participate which you can't even know you're missing out, because you don't know what you don't know

A lot of it currently is "codified" in GenZ/Gen Alfa quirks, because they were the first to get smartphones so young, but it is there, and it can cause friction with older generations that feel it's all nonsensical

> I honestly can't wrap my mind around how people think regulation is going to do that job for them.

It works pretty well for alcohol and for tobacco. With regards to tobacco, there's been a clear trend towards less tobacco usage in teenagers since 1997. that's when awareness campaigns began.

I don't think that people think that "regulation is going to do [parenting] for them". I think most people that let their children use smartphones simply don't care too much or are not aware about the serious problems arising from excessive smartphone usage.

But don't most children get smartphones from their parents? It's still legal for parents to give their children alcohol or tobacco if they want to. Minors just can't buy it (and in the case of alcohol possess it except when served it by their parents).

So imo those laws aren't intended to replace parenting. Its still up to parents to decide whether or not their minor children get access to alcohol and tobacco.

These laws - as I see it - are primarily about framing.

No, they won't stop parents from buying smartphones for their kids. But just as with seat belts or smoking indoors, they will frame giving one to a kid as harmful. This will give lawfully inclined people a reason to pay attention and - through the appliance of social pressure - nudge other people into compliance.

First, great that you're able to do that. I support that fully and hope to do the same. However, I'm sure there are a lot of parents that wish they could do something like that but circumstances prevent it. E.g. lack of awareness, local societal pressure, or the need for it (e.g. bus ticket apps)

> No amount of regulation outside of an outright ban is going to make this go away.

How about regulation mandating voluntary parental controls mechanisms on social media platforms or devices?

Or how about regulation mandating that companies share certain aggregate usage data to get insight into the scope of the issue so that ultimately parents and society can be better informed of the damage being caused?

Or regulations about phones at school so that teachers and schools have effective tools (e.g. parentally consented confiscations).

Sure, these regulations may not make this go away but it's high time that we take a closer look at the consequences of social media and smartphone use that has exploded the last ~15 years. Not to mention this is the EU. I think you'd find broad support in the populace here for at least taking a stab at the issue.

No, support from society is crucial. Otherwise your parenting will be subverted at every turn.

That feels like you're pointing out the barn door is open after the horse has already bolted.

The EU approach here seems more like "what do we do to fix the situation as it stands?" kind of thing. So, probably more practical.

> Oh, I don't know. How about you just _don't_ give your kids a smartphone?

That would be the ideal solution, however imagine being the only kid in the class who doesn't have a smartphone; that would be a bullying experience waiting to happen. Unfortunately finding the right balance between giving only what is right and not turning the kid into a misfit/loner is very hard.

Your kids are using their friends' phones and you don't know what they're doing on them.

are you gonna let them buy their own phones when they start saving enough money?

Would you let your child buy tobacco once they had enough money? I'm sure there's a certain age where disallowing your child to use a smartphone would be damaging to them- but up until maybe even 16 years old - I don't see value in allowing it.

I have a much younger brother and I can watch him being mentally harmed from having access to a smartphone.

And even worse, the UIs are so simple, the kid doesn't even get computer skills out of it like we did.

I myself got some mental illness out of the deal but at least found gainful employment in the process.

I benefited greatly from having access to Uber and GPS maps as a teen (I started using those at 12-13 iirc). They gave me a lot of freedom and independence from relying solely on my parents or shitty+expensive taxis for transportation.

You go.

Seconded. These are just lazy parents. Let them get their kids addicted, I don't care.