I’m Ok with kids having access to cell phones for security but what bothers me is stuff like this,
“During 2020, online child sex crimes in Utah have increased more than 50%. From March through June 2020, ICAC received 749 cybertips, while in 2019 during the same time, ICAC received 490.”
Some kids just don’t understand the risks and the scumbag bastard predators know that.
My son is 8. It will be awhile before he can convince me he needs a phone.
I did give him one of my old work tablets though so he can occasionally watch videos and play the games I have loaded on it for him. But he doesn’t know the code to access it so he has to ask my wife or I if he wants to use it. It has content restrictions and time limits set up on it so he can’t get into too much trouble when my wife and I are busy with work or chores.
It’s also set up so he can only text and talk with people in the contact list. At the moment that list is his parents and grandparents.
I let him start using it for extremely limited periods under direct supervision a little before he was 4. The only games on it then were educational ones that introduced words, basic math and other mental recognition skills. Those along with our early emphasis on getting him to read books seem to have helped give him a solid boost at school where he is doing very well despite the fact that he is a high energy kid who doesn’t like sitting still.
We are living in a hi tech world so having some exposure to technology is appropriate and even important. I think what kids are doing with the screens is as important if not more so than how much time they spend on one. I don’t have much of an issue if he spends some extra time watching a nature or science documentary but I put my foot down when he figured out how to access those videos of kids playing with toys. I had never known anything like that existed but apparently it is a big thing.
The trick is helping kids learn the proper balance between using technology and experiencing and interacting with the physical world. And as @Mike164 points out they need to learn how to safely use it as well. I’m not so sure completely denying kids access to tech will create that balance and safe use practices. But teaching and demonstrating responsible use might as long as kids are getting the same introduction to outdoor play and face to face social interaction.
I’ll add, it seems many parents don’t care until it’s too late. “That’s terrible, but it could never happen to my kid, who’s much smarter, brighter, and more unique than everyone else’s kids are….”
How many cyber tips were about Robert L. Peters or Robin Ware? 
U A Baaaddd Maaannn
Geeze … banning children from possessing cellphones. That horse left the barn long ago and has run into the next county.
What will the town of Greystone do if they find a child with a cell phone? Put the child in prison, put the parents in prison, impose fines? Enacting laws that cannot be enforced is one of the reasons people have such little respect for and confidence in government and government employees.
Some kind of regulation must be done while kids are on school grounds. I originally had no thoughts about the subject. I heard and saw an approximately 14 year old girl crying on the bus. She was talking to a friend. She was threatening to kill herself. Someone took picture(s) of her in the locker room. Quote…‘I had almost nothing on’. Unquote. Then that person spread the picture(s) around. They got off bus before it really sank in. So yes I am for something. Banning has a high chance of failure (just think prohibition). I honestly can’t imagine a solution. I do realize that this girl isn’t alone.
Hello and welcome @Mary_Jo4
Welcome to the community @Mary_Jo4
That to me sounds like a suspension at the very least for the picture taker. An expulsion and/or report to the police of a person distributing child pornography might not be out of order either. Kids often do stupid things but they also need to be taught a lesson when they cross too far over the line.
Seems reasonable to me to let at least older kids have phones as long as they don’t use them during class or violate other peoples privacy with them. Many schools have rules against the use of phones during school time. I’m pretty sure distributing pornography and photographing people in dressing rooms violates a bunch of laws even if the school hasn’t written specific regulations against that behavior. So I think the regulations are already in place. We don’t need to punish all phone carriers for the actions of a few criminals. Same as all firearms owners shouldn’t be denied their rights because some criminals do illegal things with guns.
Also given that most schools don’t provide sufficient security to protect children from threats I think allowing them to have a phone to call 911 or their parents for help is an ever so slightly better than nothing alternative to forcing kids to be completely helpless victims.
I agree. The #1 problem is enforcement. Banning cell phones is not feasible. That’s what I have been contemplating, how to enforce current rules. If they had stayed in bus, I would have encouraged them to contact the suicide hotline to get them help. There’s at least 1 middle and 1 high school on that bus route. They may not have been going to either one. There’s a major mall and multiple strip malls on that route. I believe that cell phones have become necessary.
Personally, I don’t think the issue is with cell phones as much as with the social media. I read some rock-solid research a while back that reinforced what I’ve thought for a long time now: social media is a really, really bad thing for kids. It breeds jealousy, depression, anxiety, a false view of reality, bullying — not to mention pressure to attempt some seriously stupid stuff. I’d argue that teens aren’t able to handle it much better.
Last I heard, there was a bipartisan group in congress trying to put restrictions on social media for kids. We’ll see if that goes anywhere.
I went through grade, middle, high school, and college all without a cell phone and social media.
If these kids cannot go on living a day without a cell or social media then they are doomed
I wish i could get in a time machine and go back to then. Life really was better without the technogy we have now.
Along a similar line, our TV in the living room broke. I took it down and diagnosed it to the power supply board, which I sent out to have fixed (but UPS lost it). Anyway, we’ve been wothout a living room TV for about a week now, and both my wife and I realized last night that we kind of like not having one at all. We sit on the couch together and talk and interact with each other, instead of just zoning out watching the screen. You see all this stuff about being “present” and getting rid of the distractions is the way to do it.
And tell her how much you like her new hair doo she had done last month. 
LOL. Funny you said that! She did go to a new salon last month, and she was really pissed at the job they did!! 
I think she looks good no matter what, but she was not a happy customer.
Welcome
I agree with Shamrock, but I think if they were posting pictures as such then it should be suspension AND a police report done AT the police station. let the parents come and get them, or at least bring them in.
Kids need a cell phone in today’s world but they shouldn’t be allowed to use it unless there’s an emergency.
the company that I retired from would fire you on the spot if you were caught with a cell phone during working hours. I think to prepare kids for real life they should be suspended if caught with a cell phone during school hours.
Just my opinion.
Welcome to the community Mary Jo
In my experience, most of real life doesn’t fire you on the spot for using a phone during work. Probably very few, in specific roles…like I would imagine an air traffic controller or someone in a secure access facility where they aren’t supposed to have that type of device at all.
For the people in my circle of friends and family, all are allowed to use phones while working. I use mine all the time while I’m working and most of them do too. The only exception is the elementary teacher who wears a smart watch tethered to her phone and ignores it unless it’s an urgency/emergency and uses the phone only on specific breaks/lunch.
FWIW.
I unfortunately have to use my phone all the time at work. To communicate with coworkers, photograph work sites, complete reports, look up details on certain regulations, etc.
It also is nice for making the time go faster by listening to podcasts during the slow periods when I’m waiting for people to wrap up and move on to the next task or for the long drives between work areas. The trick is learning when it is appropriate to use and when you need to put it down so you can focus on the task at hand and to give the people you are with the attention they deserve.
I think this is something kids could learn a little about at school if they carried one for emergencies and maybe to touch base with family and friends on the bus ride home or other appropriate times. They just need to know that using it during class or using it to take compromising photos of other people is not OK. A clear school phone policy would be a good place to start. But that only works if there is proper enforcement of the policy.
In mining ALL Equipment operator are on a Zero Tolerance Cell Phone plan.