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UK: Almost a quarter of kids aged 5-7 have smartphones (www.bbc.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 4 months ago (3 children)

People really handing their kids devices that have cellular service and unfettered internet access? All my kids devices have 2 layers of adblock, parental controls, and no cell service.

[–] Imgonnatrythis 38 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ok. Or you could, you know, not give them these. Some pretty good data coming out on why this isn't a great idea. It's not just luddite ranting.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 11 points 4 months ago

Yup. I let my kids (7 and 10) play video games or watch approved shows and that's about it. They get 1 hour on Saturdays, and they can "earn" more any day by reading: 1 hour reading = 30 min "screen time." We have a max of 2 hours/day, but they can bank time day to day.

It works pretty well. They definitely abuse the system by going beyond their allotted time, but if I "find out," they lose privileges for a couple days, so it seems they stay pretty honest on average without a ton of oversight.

I don't have any parental controls/blocking except for:

ad blocker - screw ads
passcode on Switch - mostly because of my 4yo, my older kids know the code

Basically, I operate on trust and honesty, and I think it works okay.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I’ll probably get my kids a dumb phone for school when they get old enough. I want them to have cell service for emergencies of any kind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I thought about that but I myself am broke and have gotten all of these from relatives that no longer use them. If I could go back in time, I would have abstained and ripped our N64 from my brother's closet sooner.

[–] thr0w4w4y2 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I’d love a small box with a button that literally just calls my phone, has a mic and speaker and nothing else, no screen, no software, no proprietary lock-in. just a button.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

i think an apple watch eould be great for that use case.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

First, it is Apple so all sorts of lock-ins. Second - not everyone is rich like you.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Why would you not fetter the Internet access?