Should kids have smartphones?

[Demolition Squid]

I say we ban all children from training courses first.

We had to destroy their education to save their education.

[Don Coyote]

But also, smartphones are more often than not used as portable TeeVees or video games that happen to also be able to make phone calls.

Nonsense. In my experience with children, which is considerable, the preferred order of use is 1. to interact with friends, 2. to play games, and 3. to watch videos. Their innate preference is for more interactive over less interactive, but they will resort to less interactive options if the more interactive options are tapped out.

An aside; I am IRL friends with a number of people on this board. Your social isolation is not reflective of most people's experience, and you should refrain from projecting it onto them.

I also have considerable experience.  In my former job I organized and facilitated two day trainings for peer mentors.  There was a considerable difference in the level of interaction when phones were silenced and put away.  Electronics becom distractions and limit the ability to really focus and listen, instead of just hearing.

This medium is very limiting to human communication.  Facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, all VERY important in communication.

Part of growing up is learning when to silence and turn off electronic devices. That's not really even a question, nor is it what the conversation is about.

The tooic is whether or not kids should have smartphones.  It is an example of why, I believe, it isn't necessarily a great option.  It limits social interaction, encourages social blinders, and can also breed getting lost in the digital world at the expense of time in the real world.

Uh, so what are you basing that on? Personal observation, because I posted a personal observation that pretty much cancels your out. I saw kids being very social WITH their phones.

And so did TGGR, Nigel, and I, and the 4 of us have starkly similar observations.

Obviously we have an agenda to push, and RWHN is here to save the children from us.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You are proving my point.

And millions of teenagers and young adults are disproving it.

[Salty]

That's what bothers me about this topic. Why do we assume we understand the short term and long term effects of smartphone use? This shit is all anecdotal. There hasn't even been enough time to study it properly.

Conclusions, thinking, stoppinf, ballcake.

[Cain]

-

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I probably interact with more children on a daily basis than anyone else here.

Kids use their phones in a social manner overwhelmingly.  Yes, you get some who sit in a corner, hood up, fiddling with the blasted thing from dawn to dusk, but most of them watch videos or read news and then talk about it, sharing the phone as a portable monitor and entertainment system for the whole group.

Or take tacky pictures of themselves to put on Facebook.

If this generation has an issue, it wont be introversion, it will be narcissism.

BAM.

I agree about the potential for narcissism, as well, that is a pretty high potential. But is it possible to maintain a sense of narcissistic uniqueness when everyone else around you is also convinced they are special?

[AFK]

Totally disconnected from reality.

We got parents of children who grew up with the technology as it has expanded.

We got people who grew up before this shit was widespread and have to interact on a daily basis with the children who grew up with the technology as it has expanded.

We got the very same children doing shit in meat space.

Really all the weird outliers of people suffering for technology addictions are people of YOUR and my generations  RWHN.

Horseshit!

[Salty]

I respect people's varying opinions but, RWHN, how in the hell are you so certain over this?

I probably interact with more children on a daily basis than anyone else here.

Kids use their phones in a social manner overwhelmingly.  Yes, you get some who sit in a corner, hood up, fiddling with the blasted thing from dawn to dusk, but most of them watch videos or read news and then talk about it, sharing the phone as a portable monitor and entertainment system for the whole group.

Or take tacky pictures of themselves to put on Facebook.

If this generation has an issue, it wont be introversion, it will be narcissism.

That seems a lot more likely. All that immeidate social interaction without the buffer of waitinf around for a reposnse. Its all right there and then. It seems to me, maybe because I'm typing this on a phone, that maybe it increases social interaction across the board

[Salty]

Oh man, what the hell am I thinking. I typed that question in earnestness, somehow fogetting my own observations. Nevermind, carry on.

[MMIX]

I agree about the potential for narcissism, as well, that is a pretty high potential. But is it possible to maintain a sense of narcissistic uniqueness when everyone else around you is also convinced they are special?

If even a small proportion of users is only talking and is not listening to what other people are saying to them - out of a population of <big number> that is still potentially going to be a significant number of special snowflakes.

[AFK]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-your-cell-phone-hurts-your-relationships

[Salty]

Ok, that seems to indicate, in certain setting and conditions, a hampering of closeness between two people.

I don't see how that creates absolute certainty about this topic, especially in medium to large groups of young people.

We are talking about harm here, social and emotional harm. I'm not very convinced either way.

[Demolition Squid]

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/tech-ed/should-students-use-their-smartphones-as-learning-tools/
http://mashable.com/2012/10/15/wireless-reach-students/
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Hesitant-Parents-Cant-Keep-Kids-Away-Smartphones/1010075

I'd normally bother to explain why I think these are relevant but apparently just shitting out some links is good enough now.

[AFK]

Ok, that seems to indicate, in certain setting and conditions, a hampering of closeness between two people.

I don't see how that creates absolute certainty about this topic, especially in medium to large groups of young people.

We are talking about harm here, social and emotional harm. I'm not very convinced either way.

Why would it be any different with more kids? 

[Cain]

-