It's not just children, I see it everywhere, family members particularly those still in their twenties cannot put their phones down at the table with family gatherings. People need to grow up
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Investors Urge Apple to Do More to Protect Children From Smartphone Addiction [Updated]
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Yawn. This generation it's smartphones. In previous generations it was television. Parenting solves the issue, not companies.
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How about someone at apple record a video to parents asking them to control their children???
While I would say Apple DID open Pandora's box, it's up to all of us to determine how to use it and up to parents how much to let their kids use it. Why should this be put on Apple any more than alcoholism is put on beer and wine companies? Those companies go on their merry way marketing how fun it is to drink...while people's lives are ruined. It's no different. We as people determine what we do not the companies.
It's not just about kids.
Despite a phone's usefulness, I am almost never happier than when I leave home without my phone in my pocket.
Despite a phone's usefulness, I am almost never happier than when I leave home without my phone in my pocket.
You must have an Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular.
Why does a device that is used by a kid even have a credit card attached to it? When I was growing up I always had to ask for the credit card and never even thought of abusing that privilege.
Those of us who are concerned about overuse of the devices are already managing their use. There are no consortiums or tools that could do any good if parents and guardians don’t use them.
I suppose there might come out of this some tools that will work on kids who sneak usage behind their parent or guardians’ backs. But that’s a different issue right there that no manufacturer can fix.
Honestly the biggest problem I have right now is our middle school requires the kids and parents be connected 24x7. We were all shocked when the administrator was sending out important notifications at 4:00 am fully expecting we would see them before leaving for school. I never used to check school notifications in the morning because the elementary school didn’t send any.
During the holidays the kids were required to answer notifications and check in to take further instruction on holiday homework and report their progress. Ski trips and family gatherings were definitely marred by this. Even my husband’s office largely left us alone.
It’s not an addiction it’s a nightmare. The kids’ favorite feature on their iPhones is the switch that silences the ringer and the Do Not Disturb setting.
I suppose I should be grateful to their school for associating connectivity with homework and endless nagging and surveillance from authority.
At the present time none of them want any part of Snapchat, FB or Instagram. They do like to read comics and ebooks and FaceTime friends, and there’s a group iMessage they check in on to arrange actual face to face gatherings. I actually have to remind everyone to keep track of charging their phones.
I suppose there might come out of this some tools that will work on kids who sneak usage behind their parent or guardians’ backs. But that’s a different issue right there that no manufacturer can fix.
Honestly the biggest problem I have right now is our middle school requires the kids and parents be connected 24x7. We were all shocked when the administrator was sending out important notifications at 4:00 am fully expecting we would see them before leaving for school. I never used to check school notifications in the morning because the elementary school didn’t send any.
During the holidays the kids were required to answer notifications and check in to take further instruction on holiday homework and report their progress. Ski trips and family gatherings were definitely marred by this. Even my husband’s office largely left us alone.
It’s not an addiction it’s a nightmare. The kids’ favorite feature on their iPhones is the switch that silences the ringer and the Do Not Disturb setting.
I suppose I should be grateful to their school for associating connectivity with homework and endless nagging and surveillance from authority.
At the present time none of them want any part of Snapchat, FB or Instagram. They do like to read comics and ebooks and FaceTime friends, and there’s a group iMessage they check in on to arrange actual face to face gatherings. I actually have to remind everyone to keep track of charging their phones.
Protect Children From Smartphone Addiction? What about adults? What about irreversible deafness due to earbud speakers?
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True, I edited my post actually after properly reading this story, but yes kids don’t know how much money they are spending, I think it should be made illegal for iaps to be sold to under 18’s, sure the developers and Apple will moan at their losses, but responsibility has to be taken when kids are spending thousands on an app, and the parents don’t know about it till the bill hits them.
If they make it illegal then they will hopefully teach parents about it and push for proper strong controls to be implemented into devices and account settings to block it.
The article was really about social media and not just computer use. I'm not sure that watching something on an iPad is any different than watching TV. And kids were baby sat by being placed in front of TVs for many decades now. Now Mom doesn't have to even change a VCR tape at the end of the Disney movie, but the effect is likely the same.
Social media and texting might have a different effect though. This is the new thing, not just access to video content or video games. Those have been around for a long time (for TV) and pretty long (for video games).
Social media and texting might have a different effect though. This is the new thing, not just access to video content or video games. Those have been around for a long time (for TV) and pretty long (for video games).
I am reading a lot of "simple" solutions suggested for a very complex problem. I agree with everyone who has said it is the parents responsibility to oversee their children's usage of electronic devices. I did not let either of my children have cell phones until they were 13 years old but they had friends who got their first phone even younger. They both grew up with rules about using their iPhones & iPads and both are now successful college students.
The problem for some parents is that by their very nature iPhones & iPads are designed to be mobile so they are frequently used by kids when they are away from their parents. Likewise, some parents really need to be able to get in touch with their kids during the day or on their way to and from school so "taking their phone away" isn't always a practical solution. There is a continuum of parenting styles from overly strict to overly permissive and countless situations / circumstances that occur on a daily basis that push parents one direction or the other on that continuum. Since most parents pay for their children's phones and data plans, I think it is entirely reasonable to ask Apple (and other manufacturers) to give parents more tools for monitoring / controlling how their kids are using those devices. I know some controls are already built into iOS but there is nothing wrong with asking Apple to build on the foundation they have already laid.
The problem for some parents is that by their very nature iPhones & iPads are designed to be mobile so they are frequently used by kids when they are away from their parents. Likewise, some parents really need to be able to get in touch with their kids during the day or on their way to and from school so "taking their phone away" isn't always a practical solution. There is a continuum of parenting styles from overly strict to overly permissive and countless situations / circumstances that occur on a daily basis that push parents one direction or the other on that continuum. Since most parents pay for their children's phones and data plans, I think it is entirely reasonable to ask Apple (and other manufacturers) to give parents more tools for monitoring / controlling how their kids are using those devices. I know some controls are already built into iOS but there is nothing wrong with asking Apple to build on the foundation they have already laid.
Yes, as someone who works with teens on an almost daily basis, it's very sad how addicted they are to their phones. And I don't use that dramatically like some technophobe weirdo, I'm glued to my phone too. But these younger kids take it to a new level. People think millennials are bad about this, wait until you guys see today's middle schoolers who cry and get angry when they can't access their phones.
Of course not all of them are like that, but enough of them are that it's disturbing
It's not Apple's responsibility to parent your children. What is Apple going to do, make their iPhones less interesting and compelling for everybody because some special interest groups single out the iPhone as the cause of all their teenagers problems?
All Apple needs to do is provide good tools for parents to configure and set up phones to allow access to content at certain times or prevent access to certain content, provided Apple can figure out how to prevent teenagers access once configured by a parent if they press the OK button 3 times.
All Apple needs to do is provide good tools for parents to configure and set up phones to allow access to content at certain times or prevent access to certain content, provided Apple can figure out how to prevent teenagers access once configured by a parent if they press the OK button 3 times.
That is crazy! And age test to buy software?!? Under 18?!?!? So a kid going to college (which many do at 17) can't buy an App for classwork? Most 16 and 17 year olds are working some sort of job and have some of their own money. It would be insane to have a federal law passed making it an illegal act to sell software to those folks.
Even worse, how would I prove I'm over 18? Would I have to email a picture of my driver license every time I buy software? So every $2.99 App developer now has a copy of my driver license! What the hell are you suggesting? And is all this for the very rare situation where some young kid gets an active credit card and a game with in-app purchases, your plan is the entire country has to prove its age every time it buys software?!?!?
This is the part I am interested in. Having kids at 13, 12 and 10, I would love more resources to help protect them. For an example just look at the parental controls on macOS. The ones we rely on are the timed daily access as well as the hours of accessibility.
I don't think it is a company's responsibility to "parent" our children, but I would love to have the tools to help me parent my children.
. Parents control children. Not technology companies. That is all.
Apple should do more to reduce growing smartphone addiction among children, said two major investors on Monday (via USA Today). In an open letter to the tech giant, New York-based Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System wrote of their increasing concern about the effects of mobile devices and social media on youngsters, urging Apple to offer more tools and choices to help prevent harm.
The letter cited several studies revealing the negative effects of smartphones and social media on children's mental and physical health. For example, one study found that 67 percent of over 2,300 teachers surveyed believe that the number of students who are negatively distracted by gadgets in the classroom is growing, while 75 percent say students' ability to focus on educational tasks has decreased.
In another study, eighth graders who are heavy users of social media were shown to have a 27 percent higher risk of depression, compared to children who exceed the average time spent playing sports, socializing with friends, or doing homework, all of whom have a much lower risk.
To counter the threat, the investors - who collectively control $2 billion worth of Apple shares - suggested that Apple set up an expert committee including child development specialists and make its information more available to researchers. The letter also proposed enhancing iOS and associated apps to give parents and guardians more resources to protect their children's wellbeing.
Article Link: Investors Urge Apple to Do More to Protect Children From Smartphone Addiction
Go to any kids playground or park and look at the parents heads buried into their smartphones and not playing with their children or pets. Wonder why we have a problem of human to human communication.
You mean parenting could solve this problem?
Strange idea but this could work though.