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Wait Until 8th

waituntil8th.org

171–180 of 351 posts

Re: Wait Until 8th

#171
We waited until our kids were 14 to get their phones and they couldn't take them to their bed-room at night until their senior (last) year of high school. They are both in college now and it seemed to turn out OK so far.

So I guess that's a +1 for the idea.

Re: Wait Until 8th

#172
> Initial results from a groundbreaking study by the National Institute of Health reveal that MRI's found significant differences in the brains of children who use smartphones, tablets, and video games more than seven hours a day.

Reminds me of "Every single person who confuses correlation and causation ends up dying".

Jokes aside: "more than 7 hours a day" is a _quite little more_ than the 0 hours the site is asking for. Also I'd guess it might make a difference whether the kids are using a drawing app, tiktok, learning a foreign language, reading an eBook, playing a shooter, gambling, …

Re: Wait Until 8th

#173

I'm still surprised the "dumb phone for kids" and "dumb watch with basic comms" markets are so underdeveloped (from my perspective). I would love my kids to have (a) gps tracking, (b) ability to send texts/calls to like 5 predefined numbers, (c) tell the time, and nothing else. But watches all seem to have games or weird gamified fitness trackers (Google's new fitbit for kids). Or they are super kid-ish, like bright…

My daughter has a normal android phone with Google Family Link and tons of builtin apps removed and websites blocked. The parental controls are pretty good.

Gotta agree here. The only apps that aren't blocked are the phone itself, messages, and a few games. Doesn't even have a browser on it much less social media. It's really been fantastic in letting her have a phone for communication, and technically she can text her friends if they want to, but no social media. It's pretty close to a dumb phone really. The location tracking alone is worth it, to me.

My only annoyance came when she turned 13, and Google decided to offer her complete freedom without parental consent. Left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth about the project, which is a shame.

Re: Wait Until 8th

#176
post #119
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say yes, reading Brothers Karamazov is probably a better use for a developing mind's time than playing WoW. Hell, that's a better use for an adult's time than playing WoW. But adults get to do whatever they want with their free time, and it would be hypocritical of me to judge.

The kid who plays wow at least plays in a group. And Dostoyevsky.. "Crime and punishment" is one of the worst books I ever read. You van literally skip 90% of it. Could be a 2 page short story. But feel free to downvote, apparently reading the classics makes one a classy person, not a dumb snob who thinks they are better than everyone...

You are just projecting your own snobbishness onto others with these reactionary comments. I don't even care what other books you've read and liked like my sibling response requests... let's see what books you've written. I don't much care about your uneleborated opinions unless you can demonstrate how to do well that which you claim others do poorly.

The fact that you think the only reason anyone would read a classic novel is to brag also displays a lack of imagination and self awareness. No, it couldn't possibly be the same curiosity you extol in other comments about tinkering with technology!

We need more people with the capability to think critically with nuance, who can focus on something for more than 5 seconds. WoW only does one of those, and really it's not focus so much as captivation. You don't learn much about the real world from it. On the other hand, I found quite a few insights into my own present day relationships while reading The Brothers Karamazov and Swann's Way.

Is it possible the world is wrong about Crime and Punishment and we just needed rvba to wake us from our delusion? Sure. Is it more likely you just didn't get it? That's where my money is.

Re: Wait Until 8th

#177
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me think, as I've thought previously, that the generational labels seem too broad for the pace of change in information technology over the last 40 years. I read your comment as an older Millenial and thought "what?! a smartphone in 8th grade?!" Despite being in the same "generation," someone born in the mid-80s came of age with radically different consumer technology compared to someone born just ten year…

> This makes me think, as I've thought previously, that the generational labels seem too broad for the pace of change in information technology over the last 40 years. Yeah, no kidding. I'm an older millennial as well, and I didn't have a dumb phone until my senior year of college, let alone a smartphone. My experience growing up was so much different from someone born just 10 years after me, even though we're techni…

I'm Mid-GenX. I didn't have a cordless landline phone until after college. I got my first dumb phone when I was 25 or 26.

Now get off my lawn. :)

Re: Wait Until 8th

#178

I'm still surprised the "dumb phone for kids" and "dumb watch with basic comms" markets are so underdeveloped (from my perspective). I would love my kids to have (a) gps tracking, (b) ability to send texts/calls to like 5 predefined numbers, (c) tell the time, and nothing else. But watches all seem to have games or weird gamified fitness trackers (Google's new fitbit for kids). Or they are super kid-ish, like bright…

Sounds like Xplora [1] to me. I assume they have an English-language site but failed to find it and it's late, sorry.

[1]: https://xplora.se/

Re: Wait Until 8th

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me think, as I've thought previously, that the generational labels seem too broad for the pace of change in information technology over the last 40 years. I read your comment as an older Millenial and thought "what?! a smartphone in 8th grade?!" Despite being in the same "generation," someone born in the mid-80s came of age with radically different consumer technology compared to someone born just ten year…

Ha, maybe the labels were more useful when day-to-day technology wasn't progressing as quickly as it is now! Your internet story is also funny to me because my dad worked at an ISP when I was a toddler. One of my earliest computer memories is when he taught me how to go into the Windows 98 graphics menu and toggle the color settings from 16-bit to 32-bit (or vice versa, can't remember now) before booting up a particu…

Yeah, I think trying to make games work on Windows 3.1 to 9x was a very formative experience for just a narrow slice of Millenials. I've seen the definition of Millenials span all the way up to 2000 births, and I'm pretty sure the games "just worked" for a kid born in 2000.

To be fair, I've wondered if people in previous generations feel the same way. Like was the coming-of-age experience of an older Boomer, who was a teenager in 1960, much different from that of a teenager in 1980? I don't know.

Re: Wait Until 8th

#180
post #150
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or ... we could continue doing what worked for all of us before being tethered to phones. Communicate beforehand / afterwards / using shared phones (which still exist) and learning to navigate the world using brains.

So, no flexibility, spontaneity? So far we had: - "I'd like to stay with a friend after school - they'll drive me home after dinner", "Sure, thanks for the info, have fun" - "Fire alert, I'm fine but bored" - "Had to help a friend with an accident, will be home 1h later approx" - Bus didn't turn up, uses app to improvise an alternative connection - asking teachers about details from the lessons - getting a news-feed…

Almost all of that can be done offline. Pen and paper still exist. Example 1 is more difficult without a phone of your own, I was able to use a pay phone back in the day. Everything else you listed can be accomplished offline, on a computer, or by asking to use the school's phone for 1 minute. I mean, if the accident happened at school, the office may very well contact you themselves.

Yes, it can be more convenient but it absolutely isn't necessary.

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