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Apple Should Address Youth Phone Addiction, Say Two Large Investors (reuters.com)
Two large Apple shareholders, Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, are urging Apple to take steps to address what they say is a growing problem of young people getting addicted to Apple's iPhones, Jana partner Charles Penner said. From a report: Jana, a leading activist shareholder, and CalSTRS, one of the nation's largest public pension plans, delivered a letter to Apple on Saturday asking the company to consider developing software that would allow parents to limit children's phone use, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Sunday. Jana and CalSTRS also asked Apple to study the impact of excessive phone use on mental health, according to the publication. Jana and CalSTRS together control about $2 billion worth of Apple shares, the Journal reports.
They already make their phones more expensive than anything a kid should have. What else can they do apart from this public-spirited action ;-)
I have a phone addiction (according to my wife, at least), and I only have Android. How is this Apple's problem?
Let me get this straight: some super rich people are looking around and decide that they don't like "how all those young'uns are spending a lot of time on them there phones (that I'm making a lot of money on...). T'ain't right. We gotta get them kids to go out an' play!"
How is it any of their business how other people run their own lives? Why isn't there a counter news article saying "butt out and mind your own business"?
Ya and drugloads should start rehab centers.
They do their damnedest to ensure people use their phones as much as possible.
How about NOT giving an $800 phone to an 8-year-old in the first place?
Buy them a fucking Jitterbug, and tell them if they lose it, they're not getting another.
Saves you a bunch of money, while teaching your kid something about responsibility.
The iParent app.
All the kids are addicted to smartphones...
I think these investors are missing the point. You can be addicted to *anything*. But something that they've long pointed out is many addictions are the result of some other gap or need that is missing in life. I often get the impression that online a lot of folks are quite literally lonely. As much as you can make do with a virtual social life, I suspect having a real social life is a part of being human. So parents throwing their kids a near $1000 phone because they don't have time to deal with them is not really making the situation better. Instead encourage your kids to be with other kids in person and better yet take a more active approach to the community you belong to.
Oh think of the children! We should:
- Address profanity in music by censorship (Tipper Gore)
- Address video game addiction (think World of Warcraft)
- Address violence in video games because it's causing crime to increase
- And now... TADA! Phone addiction
These so-called "values groups" do the same thing every now and then. They claim X is going to ruin society and some overarching entity needs to intervene and forcefully make people "behave appropriately".
This claim has been made again and again and again and every prediction of society turning into a bunch of lazy, dangerous degenerates proves to be false because it's not supported by any evidence. Get off your high horse and worry about yourself instead of thinking yourself superior and others being too stupid to think for themselves thus needing you to think for them.
We'll make great pets
So we want big business to take control of when are children should be and not be on their phones? Shouldn't be a job for the parents? Perhaps its just too hard in this day and age to take responsibility for your children's actions.
Not the end itself. It's Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. that kids are addicted to. But yes, it's the parents responsibility to teach their kids focus, self control and self discipline.
But don't worry, the Republicans can't control the White House and Congress forever. Then we'll get back to blaming "big business" for our own personal follies!
Another article that bleats about the evils, the dangers, the perils of kids addicted to the latest X technology that is ruining society, making people anti-social, homicidal maniacs incapable of holding a job.
Fuck, Slashdot has joined the media-hoard and they aren't even bothering to hide it anymore.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
We don't like return on investment says two major investors.
When everyone involved is in fact addicted, no one sees an addiction problem.
There are no caffeine addicts, the masses are merely supporting the coffee industry.
There are no narcissists or attention whores, the masses are merely very interactive on Social Media.
The more a problem becomes the norm, the less it is viewed as a problem.
As far as a greedy investor worried about stock price? Hold up a mirror if you're wondering where to get started on your ethical cleansing mission.
Should curb Reading Mania amongst our youth. Record labels should curb music addition. Nintendo needs to stop pumping out PokeCrack.
Fuck, go back a few thousand years, and Cicero had better do something about the youth of the day and their fashion of wearing their togas improperly.
Dear investors: You're fuckwits.
Don't be an austrailian already!
I have a 7 year old and 4 year old. They have devices (not phones) but we don't let them use them forever. This is definitely an issue though...if we didn't limit what they did on these devices they would be on them to the exclusion of everything else. I can definitely see how smart devices are more addicting that TV or video games were for us. With TV, it's a totally one-way medium and even with the most expensive cable package you can buy there's only so much content available. Video games when most of us were kids are laughably primitive compared to immersive experiences we have today. So parents have to be in control, but it's not entirely a matter of parents being lazy.
Before parents throw stones, or worse, before non-parents throw stones, don't forget that not every family is alike. Some families have serious issues where parents are working 2 jobs, one parent isn't present or is totally checked out, or one or both parents is working an insane amount of hours because that's what their employer expects. And it's not about cost of devices either -- cheap Android tablets or phones are just as addicting as the iPhone X. I live in a reasonably decent neighborhood, and of course I've run into the zombie moms who are either addicted to their own smartphones or want to shut the kids up so mommy can have her wine or painkillers in peace. But, there is something to be said about instant access to all the content in the entire world hitting the same endorphin receptors that other addictive substances do.
There is a need - or if you prefer, a market - for phones with limited capabilities, parental controls, etc.
It's been a few years since I looked, but this market was not being served well (or barely being served at all) when I did look.
At least the call is being made by Apple's own investors. That will have a much larger impact on corporate policy than if it were just "the people" griping about it.
My sister was addicted to a variety of drugs, seeing her go through withdrawal was painful. The bargaining, the anger, the emotional swings. I hated it and it made me stay away from all drugs, even though I think some aren't any worse then booze. I see the same things with my wife and her phone. If she can't check something or the battery dies, and yes she can't play candy crush, she flips out. Over the past couple months she sounds more and more like my sister getting off of drugs. I used to think the phone issue was overblown nanny state crap, but now I'm really seeing the phone as a psuedo-drug.
Too many kids absorbed into technology way to early. Can't think for themselves, social misfits can't have a face to face. Using smartphones for all human connections. You want to talk about bullying and its directly related to the ability to attack people without any contact physically. I definitely agree with schools who have finally banned smartphones in school.
Given how much effort the various platforms (ad and social) put into researching how to maintain and develop 'engagement' it isn't any surprise that younger minds would be susceptible before they have a chance to develop defense mechanisms.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Well, they are addressing it, the same way the Mexican drug cartels are addressing cocaine addiction: by assuring a steady supply.
People are addicted to their social media apps, not the hardware.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
You have to be kidding me. Invent a problem that isn't real, just some bullshit some lunatics invented up, assign it to most successful provider of hardware (but definitely not sole, or even largest stakeholder), make an article.
Slashdot needs to stop feeding the trolls.
I am a parent, I limit my children's phone/pad/tv/computer use based on what I want from them academically (I don't give two shits about 'social', obviously). That's nobody else's job and I don't want "help" or even opinions.
Why is there supposedly addiction to everything these days?
Back when the internet wasn't ubiquitous, I remember people bitching about internet addiction. Now it's called everyday life.
Video game addiction was another one. But now that everyone is playing goat farmer (or whatever) on their phone, no one cares.
One of my favorites is "sex addiction". You have to be really rich to get that one though. If you're not rich you're just a cheating scumbag. But don't confuse this with "love addiction"
Then to keep a balance, there's food addiction and exercise addiction.
... like the War On Drugs and how successful that's been and stuff.
We could also borrow from the War On Tobacco, you know, the whack-a-mole template.
How about modeling after The War On Alcohol like we did from 1920 to 1933 and just pull the phones and have speakeasies where you tell them Vinnie sent you?
The goddam 'problem' isn't the supply, it's the fucking demand. © 2018 CaptainDork
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Maybe a warning on the box, iPwn addiction causes cancer? It worked pretty well for cigarettes.
Requiem for the American Dream
There's another thing that kids are addicted to and that's pop music. That damn pop music is all over the place -- they can even be found in commercials and movies! We must stop this before it get really out of hand.
As a parent of 8 children... PARENTS, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING!
Can not be understated... stay involved. Be an adult, not a "buddy". Say "no" when it's appropriate. Don't be afraid to punish bad behavior. Don't allow yourself to get bullied. It's ok to take away the devices
Bottom line here is legislation can never make up for parenting, or you can't legislate morality. Some things require active involvement.
People are addicted to their social media apps, not the hardware.
This is like arguing that people are addicted to lubricants, not the masturbating.
Stop pointlessly splitting hairs. Could be anything from porn to Pokemon creating an addiction. The smartphone is still the central device serving up the addition, which is why it is the focus of attention.
people can actually be parents instead of their kids best friends. You know, make rules and expect your kids to follow them. If they don't enforce consequences. My oldest kid (the only one we let use a old iphone at home) doesn't like it when his time is up either, but I am willing to be the bad guy and take it away. Listen to him protest and complain isn't fun, but that is part of being a parent. And he is finally learning that if he doesn't complain and do it willingly it is better for everyone involved.
1. Apple has parental controls (https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201304) but they really should add some time restrictions to them. Access times for internet is a standard parental control feature on routers and lots of other things but not IOS. Apple should really add it and perhaps something that limits access to specific apps for a certain amount of time per day (e.g. kids are only allowed 1hr in Safari and 1hr for Facebook App). I just logged an improvement suggestion for these with Apple.
2. Parents need to take some responsibility for buying and giving their kids iPhones. I guess older kids probably have jobs and can buy their own but parents still have the right to control their access to it. Perhaps some should buy a Ksafe and put their kids phones in it at night or on the weekends when they need a break. Perhaps some parents have an addiction to not letting anyone tell them how to raise their kids but then playing the victim when their poor parenting skills result in undisciplined kids.
3. Parents I know who raise their kids well limit 'screen time' that kids have with phones, tablets and computers. They also use it as a good incentive for kids to behave (you misbehave and no screen time today). By the time their kids are about 7 the kids seem to not need anywhere near as much disciple as other kids whose parents don't discipline them (some kids seem to be the head of the household these days).
4. I know of at least one parent who doesn't let their kids have phones but has a family 'dumb' phone (i.e. no internet) that they can take with them when they go out.
Don't allow your kid to have a phone until they are 18.
"There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and
I've got a GREAT idea! Lets get parents to suck up THEIR responsibility to their children!
I know right?
Hey PARENTS!!!! What are your kids doing?
Such a concept.