What Do We Have To Show For It?

We’ve observed an entire generation of kids grow up with their own smartphones. In a sense, the kids are brighter, with faces continually lit up by a glowing screen. The results have been disappointing, as the research has shown. Regret can’t undo the damage. Why are we putting our kids in these situations? Parents want what’s best for their kids. For a long time, we thought that giving our kids the newest technology was best for them. The marketing machine has worked tirelessly to get us to spend our money, and they’ve weaponized our kids against us. In pursuit of education and connection, we have dumped more money than we’d wished. What do we have to show for it? Our kids are more depressed, more suicidal, less social, and unprepared for the real world. Something tells me we’ve been duped. But hope is not lost. As more information becomes available, we reassess.

After Today

It’s okay to change your mind if you’ve taken a wrong turn. In fact, it’s the mark of logic and reason. After observing that more tech isn’t best for our kids, we know better. The studies have shown us this on a macro scale. Through your detox, you’ve observed it on a micro scale. Now that we know better, we can do better. After a decade of handing kids smartphones, I believe the tide will turn, because we’ve seen that the marketing machine has not delivered the results we were promised. For now, my husband and I have decided there will be no smartphones for our kids, who are age twelve and under. In the interest of full disclosure, our kids do not like this. If we allowed them to create the rules in our home, the rules would be different. But my husband and I lose exactly no sleep over this decision, because we know that it is for their good. As kids grow older and we see new ways for technology to help us function better as a family, there are better options than smartphones.

Fundamental Imbalances

Many look like smartphones. But there is no app store or internet browsing option. This setup allows kids to use technology as a tool, rather than getting sucked into an entertainment and temptation vortex. At some point, we want to train our kids to use the available technology well, while they are still under our roof. And even then, it will be incrementally allowed. It is never wise to give any child immediate, full, and unfettered access to the entire world. A nonprofit group called Wait Until 8th urges parents to take a pledge to wait until their kids are in at least eighth grade before giving them smartphones. The organization suggests that parents wait until their kids are sixteen before getting them a data plan. Their mission is backed by countless experts. The pledge will empower parents to rally together to delay the smartphone at least until 8th grade. By banding together, this will decrease the pressure within the child’s grade to have a smartphone. By signing the online pledge, you promise not to give your child a smartphone until at least 8th grade as long as at least 10 families total from your child’s grade and school pledge.

Come In From The Cold

Once 10 families have pledged to delay the smartphone, you will be notified that the pledge is in effect! What a great way to garner accountability and support from and for other parents who care about protecting their kids in a world drowning in tech. You might find yourself on the forefront of this trend in your child’s school. If parents come together, they create support rather than pressure to cave to the status quo. I highly recommend recruiting friends to come along this journey with you. It is only a matter of time before our kids are exposed to explicit images online. The very next thing he said? If your right eye or right hand is making you stumble, throw it out. If a kid’s smartphone is causing them to make poor choices, the next step is obvious. Accessing the internet is easier than it’s ever been, and there’s less accountability than ever before. No wonder it’s so prevalent. It’s not complicated. A person is not weird or crazy if they desire to look at something designed to excite them. We must protect and educate our kids in this arena. Why shouldn’t they look? Why are these images wrong? Why do they exist in the first place? If we don’t educate our kids, they will ask Google or their friends. Secular studies show that viewing porn has detrimental health effects. No parent wants their kids to feel unequipped when they encounter explicit images. Instead, we want our kids to think, Oh, this is that thing my parents told me would be on here. I know what I’m supposed to do when I see it. We must prepare them. If we want our children to say no to the destructive images and videos that will inevitably show up, we must educate and empower them to do so. The girl was probably fourteen. And these are your permanent teeth. You should be brushing three times a day. You should stop all sugary drinks and snacks. Water only, okay? The dentist sounded exasperated. I glanced up at the teenager on the receiving end of the lecture. She was staring at her phone, completely unresponsive to the dentist. Her shirt said, I came. Also, the root canal we did on that back tooth? That tooth is almost rotted. I don’t know what else to say. My kids have had cavities despite regular brushing, so I didn’t want to be too judgmental. But this situation sounded like a disaster. Why does Mom allow her child to eat garbage and ruin her teeth? Finally, it was our turn for an exam. The dentist informed me that my foster son had a few small cavities between his teeth. I can tell he’s brushing, but he needs to floss more.