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A general question to parents: Is it possible to raise a kid without a smartphone today?

• analog31 10y ago
  It's getting harder. There's the obvious social pressure of course, when every other kid has the latest iPhone starting in kindergarten. My family is fortunate to live in a community where there's a fair amount of social diversity and tolerance, so the kid with no cellphone doesn't stand out very much. Our kids are now in high school, and some teachers are beginning to expect kids to have smartphones. My daughter told me her teacher sent out an announcement of an assignment, and was surprised that some of the kids didn't find out about it instantly. It's not uncommon for kids to have their smartphones taken away from them, either as a punishment, or because the phone has become an addiction. We have had to impose the rule: "When you are in the house, your phone is on the charger in the kitchen, where we can see it." I know parents who have gotten their kids flip phones, to break the phone addiction. Tracfone still offers them, AFAIK.
• nommm-nommm 10y ago
  My preteen and teen aged cousins don't have cell phones, so yes.