Smartphones have revolutionized our world — and our behavior, too. While billions of humans now have entire encyclopedias within arm’s reach, those same humans are also at risk of developing an addiction to various apps, social media platforms, games and so on. Questions surrounding the health and wellness of smartphones — as relevant to adults as they are — become even more important when we apply them to how we raise our children.
Straight Arrow News contributor Tim Carney asserts that smartphones are a net loss for the health and wellness of our children and that parents should aim to limit or restrict smartphone access. Parents will need help from local schools, clubs, and other youth organizations to accomplish that.
Step one is for institutions to never demand e-tickets and never use apps as a main form of communication with children.
Step two is to ban phones in more places. Schools should ban cell phones inside the building. Set up some landlines at the front desk for kids who need to call mom or dad. This culture should trickle out into the rest of school life and youth sports culture. Adults then should model this same behavior.
And step three is to educate parents on the dangers of smartphones and social media, how they can become addictive and fuel anxiety and sadness.
These days, we look back and shake our heads at all sorts of reckless behaviors, such as chain smoking or throwing kids in the back of a station wagon without seatbelts. One day, I believe our children will say: “Can you believe parents in the 2020s let their kids use TikTok and smartphones?” We should begin today the process of liberating our children and ourselves from these apps and devices.
