I linked to this thread, only because it's what got me thinking about this topic again. Me and my SO talk about phones occasionally, regarding our kids. Neither of them are anywhere close to an age where they might have one. However, as time goes on, we find ourselves so repelled by the idea of the kids having a fully fledged smartphone.
Given the reality that all social media apps are effectively skinner boxes, training you to use them more, the idea of allowing kids on them feels like offering a 10-year-old a cigarette. I have to remind myself that the internet I grew up on is dead and gone. I may have been exposed to some weird ass shit in AOL chat rooms, but there wasn't any kind of algorithmic content feed keeping me itching and scratching.
So far, the only time the oldest uses an iPad is when they use mine, and the only apps they use are Procreate for drawing, and an app that helps kids learn to write letters and words. Watching TV is probably the worst thing we get into at home when it comes to just pure content consumption, but we keep the list of watchable stuff pretty small, and regularly axe shows we feel don't meet our standards when we venture off that list.
I guess this has evolved into a larger discussion about media consumption as I have typed this out, but at the end of the day, that's what's happening on these phones, right?
It feels dystopian when I see children today so young they can't speak yet, already hooked on a tablet watching the crappiest content imaginable and a myriad ads in between. Capitalism has left kids with the cheapest to produce entertainment while also being scientifically designed to be as addictive as possible, terrible for their attention spans and development of critical thinking, with a touch of capitalist and atomistic propaganda.
I don't have kids but if I did I would also try to delay any access to the internet for as long as possible. Maybe until 13 at least idk, I can imagine that they get very frustrated if their friends are allowed while they aren't. It's important to show them as many activities as possible so they can find interests aside from that, it might keep them from having such an urge to get a mobile device.
I see kids on the reg while were shopping, just goblin crouched in the back of the cart just sucked into weird AI YouTube nonsense. It is pretty nutty.