Delaying smartphones – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

We Don’t Have to Give In to the Smartphones

Since the dawn of the television age, parents have struggled to limit or guide their children’s screen time. But with the arrival of smartphones that can — and do — go everywhere and with social media apps that teenagers now use for an average of five hours every day, many parents feel a sense of resignation. The struggle has been lost. Parents who try to delay giving a smartphone until high school or social media until 16 know that they’ll face the plaintive cry from their children: “But I’m the only one!” To better understand the tensions over technology playing out in American families, we worked with the Harris Poll to conduct two surveys. ….[READ]