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posted by n1 on Monday June 19 2017, @11:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the think-of-the-children dept.

We see smartphones everywhere. In school hallways, at the family dinner table and plugged in at the bedside table.

But how young is too young to be constantly connected to the rest of the world through sleek apps, social media and video messaging?

One Colorado man has decided that age 13 seems like a good cutoff.

Tim Farnum is leading the charge on a proposed ballot initiative in Colorado that would be the first of its kind in the country. Farnum's proposal would ban the sale of smartphones to children younger than 13, or more likely, to parents who intend to give the smartphone to kids in that age bracket.

Farnum, a Denver-area anesthesiologist, is the founder of Parents Against Underage Smartphones, or PAUS, the nonprofit group pushing the proposal.

Source: Coloradoan.com

Also reported by: The Washington Post

Initial Fiscal Impact Statement: Colorado.gov [PDF]


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:37AM (11 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:37AM (#528250) Journal

    As a kid I knew how to pick up the telephone and see if my friends could come out an play (before climbing into the snow pants and parka and trudging over there).

    Of course there was only one phone, and it was a party line to boot, and our phone numbers were only 4 digits long.

    This story isn't about a phone. Its about an unlimited computer in a kids unsupervised hands.
    Surely there must be some age below which we could all agree a child should not have a phone.
    Its probably some age less than 13.

    Kids age 11-12 often babysit their younger sibs. Kids that age can usually be safely left home alone [webmd.com] for an hour or two. Surely you'd want them to know how to deal with a phone. But maybe not a smartphone.

    A dumb phone seems plenty good enough for a young kid. Just be sure to get unlimited texting.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:44AM (9 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:44AM (#528254) Journal

    "Surely there must be some age below which we could all agree a child should not have a phone."

    Sorry, but, no. People are complex. Kids are complex. There are kids almost 30 years old who aren't smart enough to decide what to have for dinner. There are other kids almost 10 years old who are pretty damned mature and quite responsible. I have some of both kind in my own family. What about your family?

    How about, instead of banning kids with phones, we hold the parent responsible for enforcing good decision making. Someone earlier mentioned that this dad is probably wimping out. He wants to deny his kid a phone, but he's afraid of just saying "NO!" He wants a law to hide behind. "Oh, I'm sorry, Katy, but the law says you can't have your own phone until your an old, withered hag."

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:53AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @12:53AM (#528261)

      There are kids almost 30 years old who aren't smart enough to decide what to have for dinner.

      Easy, whatever mom brings down to the basement is what's for dinner.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by tibman on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:08AM

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:08AM (#528270)

        Still in the larval stage, i see. In pupa she stops bringing it to you and just places it on the first step. You'll want to begin your mushroom and bacteria mat growths in this phase. You should have accumulated plenty of dishes by this point. Hopefully you left some extra biomass in them to start your cultures.

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    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:11AM (4 children)

      by kaszz (4211) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:11AM (#528272) Journal

      One possible way to solve it is to have the phone require simple mathematical riddles solved. Like "What is the derive of cos(5x+2) ?" ..answer in 30 seconds. Or the phone will lock for a week. If the user is too young they will not be able to answer it. The OS could implement this. And if the user is smart enough to hack it then they passed the "brains" test anyway.

      • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:38AM (1 child)

        by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @01:38AM (#528281)

        And if the user is smart enough to hack it then they passed the "brains" test anyway.

        How incredibly irresponsible. Are you suggesting that children wouldn't be sufficiently motivated enough to learn how to solve these problems? Or perhaps to write short, grammatically correct answers to demonstrate comprehension of increasingly complex reading material? What sort of a future are your recommendations guiding these poor children, and possibly even young adults, towards?

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by kaszz on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:41AM

          by kaszz (4211) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:41AM (#528298) Journal

          A future where people that should not handle powerful things are prevented from doing so?

      • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday June 20 2017, @04:13AM (1 child)

        by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @04:13AM (#528331)

        Huh, looks like this already exists [studylockapp.com]. Neat!

        • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday June 21 2017, @05:19PM

          by kaszz (4211) on Wednesday June 21 2017, @05:19PM (#529123) Journal

          Now that is interesting. However they probably need a education in HTML and user interface design themselves first ;)
          (hint.. background makes the text undecipherable)

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Tuesday June 20 2017, @04:48AM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @04:48AM (#528337)

      "Mommy, how old are you? You have your own phone and daddy said I had to wait until-- Er, Katy, why don't you come back here and we'll see what we can work out for you ..."

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday June 20 2017, @06:50PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @06:50PM (#528646) Journal

      True that! I know of one 71 year old guy that should probably have his phone taken away too!

  • (Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:44PM

    by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:44PM (#528461)

    His age he picked seems pretty arbitrary. His own son he took the phone from was 12. He says 13 as a cutoff. He thinks he's going to magically mature that much in less than 12 months?