> competing to see who's last That's a very interesting observation but to really get it to work requires very close cooperation between parents. That takes a

> competing to see who's last That's a very interesting observation but to really get it to work requires very close cooperation between parents. That takes a lot of time and goodwill which is not easy to create or maintain except in very special circumstances or in rather closed groups. Our fatal mistake was to get a phone for our son when he started to walk home from school in case there was any change in the usual schedule. Once the genie is out of the bottle any protocol or agreements are negated pretty much instantly. There are so many pressures to encourage phone use (messaging, etc.) it's impossible to restore any level of control without (potentially severe) social consequences for the kids.