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Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

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Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#81

Post by ta12653421 »

supportengineer wrote: post #31
torginus wrote: post #5

I don't know many children who are 13 today and don't have a smartphone - in fact it was quite a common thing even a decade ago - how do you even control for this

To me, "The Internet" and "The Internet without short-form videos" are two different things. There was a very short span of time when the mobile bandwidth was good enough for browsing, messaging, and corporate email, but not really good enough (or prohibitively expensive) for streaming. Feels like that was the sweet spot.

....yeah but then, they found out how to build & deliver mobile ADS & co, so bandwidth need exploded, bringing us to the "mobile web" we have today. E.g. including YT Ads popping up after 15 min in a meditation class :-D

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#82

Post by binary132 »

seba_dos1 wrote: post #54
skylurk wrote: post #3

Soon: Adults who have smartphones have worse mental heath outcomes: Study Whatever the safe level of smartphone usage is, most of us are above it.

Is "smartphone usage" merely a proxy for "social media usage"? When I got my first smartphone almost two decades ago as a 16yo, I used it mostly to play with the system, write my own UIs, debug system daemon issues, tinker with bootloaders and ended up contributing to a community distro for it. It was a fun computer in my pocket that taught me a lot and a massive upgrade over earlier phones where I had to use Opera M…

and do you usually doomscroll on your PC or on the nightmare rectangle you carry with you everywhere, even to the bathroom?

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#83

Post by seba_dos1 »

binary132 wrote: post #82
seba_dos1 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is "smartphone usage" merely a proxy for "social media usage"? When I got my first smartphone almost two decades ago as a 16yo, I used it mostly to play with the system, write my own UIs, debug system daemon issues, tinker with bootloaders and ended up contributing to a community distro for it. It was a fun computer in my pocket that taught me a lot and a massive upgrade over earlier phones where I had to use Opera M…

and do you usually doomscroll on your PC or on the nightmare rectangle you carry with you everywhere, even to the bathroom?

My PC, of course. Scrolling on the phone happens mostly in bed or in transit. Carrying it to the bathroom is gross :P

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#84

Post by binary132 »

tombert wrote: post #23
skylurk wrote: post #3

Soon: Adults who have smartphones have worse mental heath outcomes: Study Whatever the safe level of smartphone usage is, most of us are above it.

I keep debating trying to go full-dumbphone, but I'm confident what would happen is that it would work great until I need a specific thing for whatever reason, and I'd have to buy an Android or iPhone, and then I'd be forced to carry around two devices and potentially have two separate cell phone plans. This seems like a pain in the ass. But I don't dispute that waking up in the morning to a bunch of things competing…

I try to practice a discipline of not looking at my phone until at least after I’ve had my coffee. It may be a drop in the ocean but small habits of resisting the dopamine programming add up.

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#86

Post by chasing0entropy »

hapidjus wrote: post #75
SapporoChris wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use my smartphone for primarily for: email, phone calls, text messages, second-factor authentication, calendar, camera and photo viewing. I don't use it for social media.

You are the 0.01%

I am also the .01%

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#87

Post by squigz »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #14

In the US, we restrict driving to around age 16, alcohol consumption to 18, voting to 18, and tobacco consumption to 21. Then there are industry-applied age ratings, like the MPA’s PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings. Barbiturates and amphetamines we’re once available without a prescription. There’s official/unofficial wiggle room, but there are limits. For example, if you live on a farm, you may be driving on the farm befor…

Banning smartphones in general would be more akin to banning kids from riding in cars (not driving them) or being around alcohol (even in their own home)

To say nothing of the inconsistency of those bans. You can vote, enlist in the army, and take on life-altering student loans... but smoke a cigarette? No way!

Also, isn't it the sale and purchase of alcohol that is banned for underage persons, not the consumption? That is, if parents want to give their kids alcohol, that's not illegal.

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#89

Post by tremon »

SapporoChris wrote: post #72
ksynwa wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is and it is an accurate proxy. 99.9% of smartphone users are not doing hackerman stuff on the phone.

I use my smartphone for primarily for: email, phone calls, text messages, second-factor authentication, calendar, camera and photo viewing. I don't use it for social media.

Same, but different. I don't use my smartphone for email, but I do use it for navigation.

Re: Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes: Study

#90

Post by tremon »

squigz wrote: post #87
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #14

In the US, we restrict driving to around age 16, alcohol consumption to 18, voting to 18, and tobacco consumption to 21. Then there are industry-applied age ratings, like the MPA’s PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings. Barbiturates and amphetamines we’re once available without a prescription. There’s official/unofficial wiggle room, but there are limits. For example, if you live on a farm, you may be driving on the farm befor…

Banning smartphones in general would be more akin to banning kids from riding in cars (not driving them) or being around alcohol (even in their own home) To say nothing of the inconsistency of those bans. You can vote, enlist in the army, and take on life-altering student loans... but smoke a cigarette? No way! Also, isn't it the sale and purchase of alcohol that is banned for underage persons, not the consumption? T…

Banning smartphones in general would be more akin to banning kids from riding in cars (not driving them)

How so? I don't see you make an argument for why your simile would be more accurate, and I fear I lack the imagination to conjure up what back-seat phoning would look like.

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