Can you really make phones illegal for under 16s?

Galaxy

That's not what the data is showing for young people I am afraid, lack of relationships, anxiety (specifically for girls as they use social media in a different way) with boys its porn and other issues, but am sure it will be fine.
It's worth noting that lots of the very wealthy tech lot dont let their children anywhere near social media etc.

Banning smart phones won't put an end to that anyway, children use ipads, laptops and home computers.
The very wealthy pay people to watch their children and keep them safe.
The data on phone use cites children using their phones in school and spending up to 5 hours a day on them.
My DGD's school does not permit their use in school time. No one should be on any screen for 5 hours a day and children need to have a screen free period before bed time. None of those are issues solely to do with smart phones. They cover all screen use.
Proper education and rules on use are needed not complete bans which won't work anyway. Enterprising teens will still manage, but their parents won't know.

Galaxy

That's not what the data is showing for young people I am afraid, lack of relationships, anxiety (specifically for girls as they use social media in a different way) with boys its porn and other issues, but am sure it will be fine.
It's worth noting that lots of the very wealthy tech lot dont let their children anywhere near social media etc.

Re data, that’s a valid point. Various aspects of bullying take place over the internet. I doubt banning smart phones would stop it - bullies would just find other ways. The victim could, as now, ignore it, but the bullies would certainly continue to mention to the victim what they have seen.
It will be interesting to see how far this idea goes.

I don’t like the idea of rules being set by people who don’t know individual children. I wouldn’t be happy if mine had been on screens for 5 hours a day, but neither would I like someone outside of the family setting rules for my household. My children were teenagers when smartphones came in and data was too expensive for them to be on them for hours, but I do remember people saying there should be rules about PlayStation use and so on, and that their rules should be enforced for everyone.

I briefly tried to legislate about that at home, but soon realised that the children regulated themselves- they would play for a while then go out and play football or find something else to do without my interference, which they resented, as they knew what was fair, who needed another turn and so on, and I didn’t. Learning to do that was far more valuable than having someone standing over them pointing at her watch, with only a vague idea of what was going on.

I agree that banning phones is intrusive and IMO is outside the remit of anyone other than parents. By all means ban their use at school and penalise misuse of social media, bullying and so on, but if it works for a family to be able to contact one another they should be able to do that. Phones can be switched off during school hours but it should be up to parents if their children carry them to and fro.

Nothing like banning something to make it deeply attractive to teenagers. Probably a marketing ploy, hey ?

Oh I dont think it will be just phones, it will be some sort of stricter control on all social media, phones will probably be the start. I would say Labour are more likely to proceed with it than the Tories. My prediction is that in 10 years time access to the internet for young people will look completely different.

I have posted on this and the other thread, sort out the platforms content make it impossible for the dark web to exist.

And to quote Pink Floyd leave our kids alone

Could not be enforced. If an 18 year old is murdered via online bullying do we increase the smart phone usage age to 20.

When you look around and read comments elsewhere most parents are of the opinion that they won't be subscribing to any new law. If your child is murdered via the aforementioned you will no doubt be demanding the ban of smart phones.

The law may change but few will be listening.

If, as Labour suggest and the SNP enacted, 16 year old teenagers will be able to vote in GEs how can a 16 year old less 1 day be banned from having a smart phone?

Of course you can’t. My GCs use Apple smart watches for a lot of things.

I think children should be able to have phones once at secondary school for safety purposes when travelling to and from school or other activities away from parents. I know we and our children did not have this but it is helpful.
Children need to have a laptop or ipad at home for homework so I cannot see the point of banning phones.

Most of you seem to be unaware that teenagers use computers in one form or another for homework. I don't mean they are using them to Google information, they have to access various resources and complete the tasks set - all online. This practice started during lockdown when distance learning was necessary and hasn't stopped

eddiecat78

Most of you seem to be unaware that teenagers use computers in one form or another for homework. I don't mean they are using them to Google information, they have to access various resources and complete the tasks set - all online. This practice started during lockdown when distance learning was necessary and hasn't stopped

Not just teenagers. My GS has to do his homework and submit it online, and he is only 6.

Smartphones can cause a lot of damage to children as they are growing up. A simple phone would be better, for letting parents know where their child is, but even that is no guarantee. It tells the parents where the phone is.
I'm not sure that today's world is any more dangerous than it used to be, I think it's just that we hear more about it now.
But banning smartphones would be very difficult.
The government needs to crack down on the dangerous websites rather than the phones themselves.

Children need educating about safe behaviour on their phones, it's not just about dodgy websites.
In the last year I've heard two separate instances of girls sending inappropriate pictures of themselves to boys, one group were 10/11 year olds and the other were 14 year olds.
In the case of the junior school children the girls were naked.

“I'm not sure that today's world is any more dangerous than it used to be, I think it's just that we hear more about it now.”

It’s certainly perceived as more dangerous, a generation ago we didn’t have strangers grooming children in their own homes. Out on the streets, drugs are everywhere, traffic is far more intense and most parents are far more protective than I used to be