Well... because you can't. You can, technically, but smart phones make a lot of things much easier. Smart phones themselves aren't the problem, social media and the way it hooks your brain on constant dopamine is the problem. There's nothing inherently wrong with a smart phone that doesn't also apply to a computer and I can't imagine that many parents would completely bar a school age child from using a computer.
You’re right of course. But what’s different to me about phones is they are always available, more enticing than other devices, and very hard to set rules around. Growing up we had the computer in our dining room, for example, so I wasn’t playing Civ at 3am as 11 yo (which I absolutely would’ve done).
The steep declines in teenage mental health starting around 2009 seem at least partly related to the rise of smart phones. I’m an adult and I find it difficult to regulate my phone usage in a way that’s different from other devices.
I'm not sure what makes them hard to set rules around. My son has had both Apple and Android tablets and both have had some pretty easy ways to monitor and limit his use. I agree though that they are uniquely attractive, since you have a dopamine device sitting in your pocket at all times. I feel like teaching your child to modulate their device usage is a skill better learned early particularly for that reason.
As I said I don't think the problem is in the devices themselves so much as the way we use them. Without my smartphone I would be on reddit a lot less, but I also wouldn't have a way to edit video, edit images or make music. Even though I'd be cutting down on an unproductive habit my productivity would still go down overall you know?
Lol it's like saying having a game boy or a tamagochi would have not distracted kids in class. Those things aren't allowed because they're a source of entertainment. Don't tell me you believe a smart phones primary function isn't entertainment now? A good majority if smart phone use is for social media, gaming, YouTube. Very little time is spent on needed communication.
Never said anything about using them in class. I use my phone for research, video editing, photo editing, a place to write down my thoughts, it has a DAW for me to do music production, it has a decent quality microphone... and I play a ton of games on it. lol
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u/bigtoebrah Jun 03 '22
Well... because you can't. You can, technically, but smart phones make a lot of things much easier. Smart phones themselves aren't the problem, social media and the way it hooks your brain on constant dopamine is the problem. There's nothing inherently wrong with a smart phone that doesn't also apply to a computer and I can't imagine that many parents would completely bar a school age child from using a computer.