Tell me why you don't let your teen have a smart phone?

[Anonymous]

I'm honestly perplexed by this. Our kids have them and they're great. I can reach them, they text, look up school assignments, have fun on Instagram etc we check their phones pretty much every day and we take them at night and no phones at meals. They aren't allowed to erase their history. Just curious why parents don't allow ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly perplexed by this. Our kids have them and they're great. I can reach them, they text, look up school assignments, have fun on Instagram etc we check their phones pretty much every day and we take them at night and no phones at meals. They aren't allowed to erase their history. Just curious why parents don't allow ?

Most kids aren't just like yours, nor are most parents just like you.

[Anonymous]

Usually one of a couple of reasons:

1) Cost
2) Some stubborn belief that screens are bad or other luddite type attitude.

Our kid got one when it was convenient for us for her to have one. That was middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly perplexed by this. Our kids have them and they're great. I can reach them, they text, look up school assignments, have fun on Instagram etc we check their phones pretty much every day and we take them at night and no phones at meals. They aren't allowed to erase their history. Just curious why parents don't allow ?

1) They're expensive (initial cost + monthly plan).

2) They're addictive. Look at the teens walking around the mall, heads down looking and tapping at their phones, oblivious to what's around them.

3) They tempt toward bad behavior (sexting, bullying on ever-available social media).

4) A dumb phone will suit most teens' purposes just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually one of a couple of reasons:

1) Cost
2) Some stubborn belief that screens are bad or other luddite type attitude.

Our kid got one when it was convenient for us for her to have one. That was middle school.

Read "The Shallows" by Nicholas Carr to get some insight into the effect of constant screen viewing on the human brain.

[Anonymous]

Cyberbullying, sexting, addiction to distraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly perplexed by this. Our kids have them and they're great. I can reach them, they text, look up school assignments, have fun on Instagram etc we check their phones pretty much every day and we take them at night and no phones at meals. They aren't allowed to erase their history. Just curious why parents don't allow ?

1) They're expensive (initial cost + monthly plan).

2) They're addictive. Look at the teens walking around the mall, heads down looking and tapping at their phones, oblivious to what's around them.

3) They tempt toward bad behavior (sexting, bullying on ever-available social media).

4) A dumb phone will suit most teens' purposes just fine.

+1

Our kids' flip phones do the job just fine.

If they need Internet access, we have that at home.

[Anonymous]

Hello rich and clueless OP,

It must be so nice to be you, and not have to worry about money and whether your children will lose so many hundreds of dollars worth of phone.

Sincerely, the common man.

[Anonymous]

And if we don't have bread, should we just eat cake too?

[Anonymous]

How do you know they do not delete their history of use incognito browsing? Regular phone and home internet access is fine for our family. I see too many kids (and adults) that just default to their phones every time there is a pause in their day.

[Anonymous]

I personally know someone who has an 18-year-old daughter who is now on her 3rd iPhone 6 because she sat on the first two and broke them. No, they did not have them insured. No, they are not rich (far from it). But they swear they all need their iPhone 6's.

Mind blowingly dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Hello rich and clueless OP,

It must be so nice to be you, and not have to worry about money and whether your children will lose so many hundreds of dollars worth of phone.

Sincerely, the common man.

Does common man = stupid as well? You can get a very cheap Android based smart phone for less than @$100. Super cheap if you buy one used. Then you just use a pay as you go service.

[Anonymous]

I used to be one of these parents but as my child actually got older I started changing my mind. I realized that there were many benefits of technology that were more helpful than harmful. I have tried very hard to limit social media accounts which in the early teen years has been easier since many of her friends do not yet have them.

[Anonymous]

Lots of reasons that have already been stated by other PPS, but also because I don't believe in technology purely for the sake of technology. Not a Luddite by any means--we have all sorts of technology, but only after it's clear that adopting each item will actually measurably improve our lives. A smartphone for our young teen doesn't pass that test. He can call and text on a regular phone, and use the computer for school-based assignments, etc. He loves to read and we'd much rather he continue to do that than "have fun on Instagram." When the day comes that the benefits seem to outweigh the potential costs, we'll get him one. Until then, no need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Hello rich and clueless OP,

It must be so nice to be you, and not have to worry about money and whether your children will lose so many hundreds of dollars worth of phone.

Sincerely, the common man.

Does common man = stupid as well? You can get a very cheap Android based smart phone for less than @$100. Super cheap if you buy one used. Then you just use a pay as you go service.

Still too expensive.