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A Colorado Group Wants To Ban Smartphones For Kids (apnews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes the AP:
Colorado officials have cleared the language of a proposed ballot measure that would establish the nation's first legal limits on buying smartphones for children. Backers of the move to forbid the sale of smartphones to children younger than 13 would now need about 300,000 voter signatures for the proposal to make the 2018 ballot. The ban would require cellphone retailers to ask customers about the age of the primary user of a smartphone and submit monthly reports to the Colorado Department of Revenue on adhering to the requirement. Retailers who sell a phone for use by a youngster could be fined $500, after a warning.
A Denver-area dad is leading the campaign -- a board certified anesthesiologist who says children change when they get a cellphone. "They go from being outgoing, energetic, interested in the world and happy, to reclusive. They want to spend all their time in their room. They lose interest in outside activities."
A Denver-area dad is leading the campaign -- a board certified anesthesiologist who says children change when they get a cellphone. "They go from being outgoing, energetic, interested in the world and happy, to reclusive. They want to spend all their time in their room. They lose interest in outside activities."
Is there any actual evidence that phones are bad for kids?
My kids got phones when they were 8. We can find them if they get lost, it makes it easy to coordinate pickups. It gives us more freedom to let them go and do what they want, since they can call if they get in situation they can't handle. In fact, we don't let them leave home without their phones. I don't see the downside. I don't think I need an anesthesiologist to tell me how to raise my kids.
You ever see a kid with books, they spend their time reading instead of playing outside and socializing. We should ban children from reading so we can have better adjusted children.
That's exactly the question: has it been researched and if not, how dare he abuse his title as an MD to put this point forward? I, for one, think that a child growing up today may risk getting socially isolated without a cell phone. It's the world we live in. Deal with it and teach your kids to.
sounds like the guy who came up with this should grow some balls and put his foot down and say no to his kids instead of relying on the government to make a law so he can have an excuse
This. I'm not for legislating parenting techniques. If smartphones are causing kids to become reclusive, then educate the public about it. No need for a ban. Just teach parents that smartphone use for children needs to be monitored and limited. I personally believe it should be limited like any other electronic entertainment, like television, video games, and computers. But a law? No.
I personally believe it should be limited like any other electronic entertainment, like television, video games, and computers. But a law? No.
Gambling, prostitution, (paper) porn, alcohol, and any number of other "strongly motivating" forces in this world have been legally restricted "for the good of the nation." There is a significant segment of the population that simply can't deal with easy access to things that provide them a strong dopamine reward. Do cell phones fit this category? For some, yes.
Do we need a law? No more than we need laws for gambling, prostitution, cocaine, heroin, etc. Probably more mature and effective to provide education, counseling and easy access treatment programs, but that doesn't seem to be the American way.
Are there adults that are addicted to their smartphones? Most definitely.
There are a whole lot more adults that are simply addicted to avoidant behavior. If it wasn't smartphones it would be TV. Before TV it would've been a book.
For times immemorial, extroverts have looked at introverts and decided since introverts would rather spend a large amount of time not socializing there must be something wrong with them.
No, introverts just don't want to spend time socializing. That's it. That's all. Take our phones, take our computers, we still don't want to sit around in a group of 20 people singing Kumbaya.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch