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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."
It's going to be our problem when there is a generation of socially maladjusted children.
If you have to ask that question, perhaps you shouldn't have. Now, phones are fine (non-smart phones). They fit the job you needed them to do. However you must keep in mind that the testing involved that regulates acceptable radiation etc, was tested on adults. This is NOT suitable for children as development and overall time of exposure is not even remotely comparable to adults.
As far as smart phones there are plenty of well established studies that say limiting TV (for framerate mainly) for young children is a very good idea. Doctors push this for a reason. It screws up their mental development which doesn't officially cease until the mid 20's. They are also holding a vulnerable device which can be utilized by nefarious people for nefarious purposes. Due to the lack of robust parental controls, and the lack of parent knowledge of them, there is a huge risk of them using apps that they shouldn't be using. Snapchat, WhatsApp, Signal, KiK, just to name a few. It is hard to police them. And if you can't police them they will be using those apps to do things you will not approve of. Henceforth, why smart phones are not a good idea.