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When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

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Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#111

Post by xemdetia »

ordu wrote: post #28
outime wrote: post #6

This looks like a smart kid from the description given. It's possible that he spent a good time reading recent literature about the drawbacks and decided not to join the masses. Or he just thought twice before following everyone. Either way it's always refreshing to find very young people doing different stuff by themselves as it's specially tough not to follow the trends during that age. I also noticed that there's…

> This looks like a smart kid from the description given. It's possible that he spent a good time reading recent literature about the drawbacks and decided not to join the masses. Or he just thought twice before following everyone. Or it is a reaction to a parent obsession. I can imagine how a kid hates screens because parent spend more time with them then with the kid.

I don't have any insight but from just various anecdotes about kids getting smartphones I would say: they are now getting them in early primary school rather than late secondary school, exceptionally helicoptering parents have only become more obnoxious, and most kids are still pressed into many extracurriculars. If I was of the same mindset when I was child in this day's age being exposed to other children with completely obnoxious phone usage would be completely off-putting and I would not want any part of it. It might be that the observed negatives of having a smartphone as a child from peers and parents would be probably higher than any perceived benefit. Then with the way I see some parents help/press kids into after school activities many probably are crying for that separation to have a space away from their parents (which is one of the most valuable experiences schools provide), and so keeping that wall there is inevitably valuable.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#112

Post by cik »

I think it's brilliant, and applaud the child.

IMHO people spend far too much time on their phones, and other devices. My devices are for work, they're rarely for play (yes, the occasional video game), but there's an intense reality that I now have real conversations with people - and they're much more authentic, even about their time.

I meet people for meals, for drinks, for a walk. I find out about their lives, and share my own - as opposed to skulking them on InstaFaceTwitterGram. For me it works - for others it might not. Fair enough.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#114

Post by planck01 »

ensignavenger wrote: post #80
Klinky wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one can really even define what a Millennial is, or who falls in to Generation Y/Z. Even "who is a Boomer?", and the tropes of what a Boomer is, fail when looking at my anecdotal data. Also often activist children are heavily influenced by their activist parents. Generational classification and "analysis" is almost as bad as stereotypes.

This comment is being down-voted, and I sort of understand why, as it comes off as overly abrasive. Obviously demographers use different years to define generations depending on the study. But I think the last part about stereotyping is worth discussion, even if the comment is overly abrasive. I was born in a year that traditionally was generally not considered "millennial" by demographers, but since it also did not…

Generations are basically agegroups that share for a part the same cultural experience, e.g. the same mass media, cartoons, educational trends, etc. Research shows that these overlaps in culture lead to several predictive trends in behavior and opinions.

It's normal you don't associate personaly with every trend. Especially if you lived in some local bubble or if you are on the edge of some defined group. That doesn't matter and I would just ignore it. This isn't about any specific person.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#115

Post by LocalH »

ensignavenger wrote: post #80
Klinky wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one can really even define what a Millennial is, or who falls in to Generation Y/Z. Even "who is a Boomer?", and the tropes of what a Boomer is, fail when looking at my anecdotal data. Also often activist children are heavily influenced by their activist parents. Generational classification and "analysis" is almost as bad as stereotypes.

This comment is being down-voted, and I sort of understand why, as it comes off as overly abrasive. Obviously demographers use different years to define generations depending on the study. But I think the last part about stereotyping is worth discussion, even if the comment is overly abrasive. I was born in a year that traditionally was generally not considered "millennial" by demographers, but since it also did not…

Millennial has turned into a slur, so at this point I think the terminology needs to be superseded. The term originally meant birth between 1982-2004, with the caveat that the end of the generation might be up for discussion while the next generation was still growing. Now all of a sudden you have people calling anyone born in the 80s a "millennial", usually as a means to disparage them.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#116

Post by cabalamat »

Klinky wrote: post #74
m-i-l wrote: post #52

I read a report recently on predictions for Generation Alpha, i.e. the generation after Generation Z (in turn the generation after the Millennial Generation) very roughly born after 2010. One of the predictions was that they would be both "digital masters" but also "the new old fashioneds" that would be looking to break away from technology more, perhaps as a result of feeling neglected by parents constantly distract…

No one can really even define what a Millennial is, or who falls in to Generation Y/Z. Even "who is a Boomer?", and the tropes of what a Boomer is, fail when looking at my anecdotal data. Also often activist children are heavily influenced by their activist parents. Generational classification and "analysis" is almost as bad as stereotypes.

> Generational classification and "analysis" is almost as bad as stereotypes.

Sometimes there genuinely are very big changes between generations. E.g. Brexit, which is much more widely supported by old people than young people.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#117

Post by tootie »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #107
tootie wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 11-year old also never looks at her phone. We actually keep having to remind her to do so because we are texting her with reminders all the time. She seems to have almost zero interest in texting with her friends and will only occasionally play games or read books on the Kindle app. It's 100% just her personality though. Nothing that she learned to do. I also track her location with it and she likes us knowing whe…

> We actually keep having to remind her to do so because we are texting her with reminders all the time. Wouldn't a good-old voice call be the logical fix for this?

She doesn't answer either. She tends to just leave it somewhere and the ringer is usually off because it has to be at school.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#118

Post by logifail »

planck01 wrote: post #114
ensignavenger wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is being down-voted, and I sort of understand why, as it comes off as overly abrasive. Obviously demographers use different years to define generations depending on the study. But I think the last part about stereotyping is worth discussion, even if the comment is overly abrasive. I was born in a year that traditionally was generally not considered "millennial" by demographers, but since it also did not…

Generations are basically agegroups that share for a part the same cultural experience, e.g. the same mass media, cartoons, educational trends, etc. Research shows that these overlaps in culture lead to several predictive trends in behavior and opinions. It's normal you don't associate personaly with every trend. Especially if you lived in some local bubble or if you are on the edge of some defined group. That doesn'…

> Research shows that these overlaps in culture lead to several predictive trends in behavior and opinions

What kind of research? Can you give references?

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#119

Post by logifail »

azangru wrote: post #18

I cannot imagine how it can be a good idea to reject the internet. Avoid social media all you want, but choosing not to have a search engine, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and so on at your fingertips is just bonkers. Also, smartphone is great at being a digital watch with alarm clock, a audiobook reader, a radio set, etc. You can rebel against the mindless social media generation to your heart's content and stil…

> Avoid social media all you want, but choosing not to have a search engine, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and so on at your fingertips is just bonkers.

Recently our 9-year old wasn't sure how to spell a particular word, so I suggested we look it up in a (printed) dictionary. He didn't think it would be in there(!) He was surprised at my confidence it would be. Of course, we found it.

He hadn't even considered that almost all the words he uses every single day are sitting in a book on our bookshelf, listed in neat alphabetical order, just waiting for him.

Re: When Your 11-Year-Old Says No to a Smartphone

#120

Post by leetcrew »

rahoulb wrote: post #109
leetcrew wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do they allow laptops and tablets in school? seems like a "no camera" policy would require the school to provide any electronic devices itself. or I guess they could just not have computers at all; it worked back in the day.

Only school ones are allowed (it's a primary school so kids 11 and under). Which means any photos taken don't leave the device

oh okay, that kind of policy makes sense when everyone is under 12.
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