4 ms·

Bah, it's just a tool, and important one for safety and avoiding unnecessary distress. It's up to parents to take care of technological limits and discipline, b

Bah, it's just a tool, and important one for safety and avoiding unnecessary distress. It's up to parents to take care of technological limits and discipline, but it's not not an all or nothing deal. Especially during pandemic, how else were kids supposed to have any connection to peers? And without pandemic, what's wrong with cousins playing Minecraft while many hundreds of miles away from each other.

rcme 3y ago
This is the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument.
- cat_plus_plus 3y ago
  Absolutely, it would be stupid to live without a gun in rural Alaska. What if a bear or criminal attacks my family I just stand and throw sticks at them? There are also absolutely environments where either a gun or a smartphone are not worth it, for example a school where everyone is properly supervised, protected by local police and engaged in meaningful learning which does not require a phone.
rottencupcakes 3y ago
This isn't about not giving them computers is it? This is about not giving them smart phones.
- Spivak 3y ago
  And smart phones are the tools for that. That kind of chatting happens in group texts, iMessage, Snap, and IG. Someone who is using their phone to talk to their IRL friends is doing better than sitting on their laptop, playing video games, or watching tv. Phones are evil is how millennials become "back in my day" people apparently. Fascinating to watch it in real time.
  - leonidasv 3y ago
    I have the same feeling. Smartphones are amazing tools when properly used and all of them come with extensive parental controls to counteract the bad usage patterns nowadays. Keeping teenagers away from Internet and mobile apps will only turn them into digital illiterates as the time passes. Teenage is the time to make mistakes and learn with them, and that applies to all the digital junk too.
- elzbardico 3y ago
  smart phones are computers. It is just a different form factor.

rcme 3y ago

This is the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument.

cat_plus_plus 3y ago
Absolutely, it would be stupid to live without a gun in rural Alaska. What if a bear or criminal attacks my family I just stand and throw sticks at them? There are also absolutely environments where either a gun or a smartphone are not worth it, for example a school where everyone is properly supervised, protected by local police and engaged in meaningful learning which does not require a phone.

rottencupcakes 3y ago

This isn't about not giving them computers is it? This is about not giving them smart phones.

Spivak 3y ago
And smart phones are the tools for that. That kind of chatting happens in group texts, iMessage, Snap, and IG. Someone who is using their phone to talk to their IRL friends is doing better than sitting on their laptop, playing video games, or watching tv. Phones are evil is how millennials become "back in my day" people apparently. Fascinating to watch it in real time.
- leonidasv 3y ago
  I have the same feeling. Smartphones are amazing tools when properly used and all of them come with extensive parental controls to counteract the bad usage patterns nowadays. Keeping teenagers away from Internet and mobile apps will only turn them into digital illiterates as the time passes. Teenage is the time to make mistakes and learn with them, and that applies to all the digital junk too.
elzbardico 3y ago
smart phones are computers. It is just a different form factor.