yeshivish:
The parents who don’t have the time or interest, or who don’t believe it is necessary, then, are the problem – not the phone itself.
Brooklyn19:
You underestimate adults, we know a lot more than we let on sometimes ;). You think that children disobeying their parents is a recent innovation? You think that parents don’t know what’s going on ever? I’ll give you a little hint: sometimes, the best way to learn a lesson is not by getting caught, but by getting burned. Kids are going to find ways to do what they are intent on doing one way or another. Making things off-limits is not always the answer.
For example: tell a kid they can’t use the internet and one of two things will happen – either the kid will find a way to use it anyway, with NO hope of proper supervision or training, or they won’t, but when they are old enough to make the decision by themselves, they will be totally unprepared to deal with what they are doing.
I would rather ATTEMPT to teach my kids moderation and proper use than both open the temptation to the forbidden and render them helpless and uninformed when it is out of my hands. Not to mention that proper use of technology is increasingly a prerequisite for success in the job market (not to say that this necessitates giving every child a cell phone, but you probably [hopefully] can see what I’m getting at).