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Smartphones and society

I'm not overly concerned, honestly. I mean, I still know how to grow good tomatoes and field dress a buck, and these are skills that I've already passed down to my children. My 5yo is already pretty efficient at running a trot-line, and there are still evenings where my 8yo is content to sit out by the lake and catch catfish from dusk till dawn. If the grid goes down, my kids will still know how to plow a field because their grandpa has taught them how to live off the land. You can call us all hillbillies if you want, but if it all goes to hell, we still have access to a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive, so it doesn't worry me too much if my kids play Roblox for 20 minutes or so in the mornings.
 
WFcatamount22 said:
I guess it was refuting the "only people over 60 know anything" point.
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Your post made sense - I was agreeing with you; it was the young people don’t know life skills without YT that I didn’t get the point
 
ImTheCaptain said:
i challenge the assertion that the majority of 20-30yr olds knew how to do a bunch of DIY stuff in the 70s-90s
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while I also disagree with the "only people over sixty can do stuff" thing, people only a generation ago were definitely entering the workforce and getting married and having kids earlier in life, so it would make sense that they encountered the need to learn such stuff earlier too

in general
 
mako1331 said:
I'm not overly concerned, honestly. I mean, I still know how to grow good tomatoes and field dress a buck, and these are skills that I've already passed down to my children. My 5yo is already pretty efficient at running a trot-line, and there are still evenings where my 8yo is content to sit out by the lake and catch catfish from dusk till dawn. If the grid goes down, my kids will still know how to plow a field because their grandpa has taught them how to live off the land. You can call us all hillbillies if you want, but if it all goes to hell, we still have access to a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive, so it doesn't worry me too much if my kids play Roblox for 20 minutes or so in the mornings.
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to be fair, this is not really what the danger is in terms of technology (limited/in control play time)

it's more about when your kids are in middle/high school and are pressured to be on or have smartphones for near 24/7 connectivity to the world and the dangers of e-bullying and social media and all that are going to be pushed upon them, the atlantic article is mostly talking about this and the effect it seems to have had on Gen Z
 
Yeah I really want to delay phones and social media for my kids. No real danger of wanting that yet but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before one of their friends get these and then it’s fight city.

Their addiction to stupid ass Roblox games on their tablets is bad enough. Hard to say my Nintendo compulsion was any better though.
 
cookoutdeac said:
to be fair, this is not really what the danger is in terms of technology (limited/in control play time)

it's more about when your kids are in middle/high school and are pressured to be on or have smartphones for near 24/7 connectivity to the world and the dangers of e-bullying and social media and all that are going to be pushed upon them, the atlantic article is mostly talking about this and the effect it seems to have had on Gen Z
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article quotes that the average American teen spends 5 hours a day on social media

5 hours
 
cookoutdeac said:
to be fair, this is not really what the danger is in terms of technology (limited/in control play time)

it's more about when your kids are in middle/high school and are pressured to be on or have smartphones for near 24/7 connectivity to the world and the dangers of e-bullying and social media and all that are going to be pushed upon them, the atlantic article is mostly talking about this and the effect it seems to have had on Gen Z
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Idk, if anybody bullies my kid I'll probably just spit some Beechnut in their eye.
 
mako1331 said:
I'm not overly concerned, honestly. I mean, I still know how to grow good tomatoes and field dress a buck, and these are skills that I've already passed down to my children. My 5yo is already pretty efficient at running a trot-line, and there are still evenings where my 8yo is content to sit out by the lake and catch catfish from dusk till dawn. If the grid goes down, my kids will still know how to plow a field because their grandpa has taught them how to live off the land. You can call us all hillbillies if you want, but if it all goes to hell, we still have access to a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive, so it doesn't worry me too much if my kids play Roblox for 20 minutes or so in the mornings.
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Man my kids would be fucked.
 
mako1331 said:
I'm not overly concerned, honestly. I mean, I still know how to grow good tomatoes and field dress a buck, and these are skills that I've already passed down to my children. My 5yo is already pretty efficient at running a trot-line, and there are still evenings where my 8yo is content to sit out by the lake and catch catfish from dusk till dawn. If the grid goes down, my kids will still know how to plow a field because their grandpa has taught them how to live off the land. You can call us all hillbillies if you want, but if it all goes to hell, we still have access to a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive, so it doesn't worry me too much if my kids play Roblox for 20 minutes or so in the mornings
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Based on what you and the wife do during Roblox time I’m sure you don’t.
 
another part of it that is hard for me is that even if you opt out of using a smartphone, the impact is still pervasive

phones up everywhere at the concert, QR code menus, and, most importantly, so many people around just constantly on their phone
 
ImTheCaptain said:
is OGBoards social media.

asking for a friend
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It is. Does it include YouTube as well?

5 hours doesn’t seem too far off from what a large percentage of adults spend.

My boys are three years apart. Almost 15 and almost 12, 9th and 6th grade. My oldest wanted a phone in the 5th grade. Most of his friends had phones but we told him he had to wait until 6th. Then COVID happened and he lost all contact with his friends who were our family friends and his friendships never really recovered.

Fast forward to the youngest before 5th grade. He and his friends wanted to walk home from school with his friends instead of doing after school. We agreed and got him a phone so he could contact us as he needed us. He texted his friends all the time. I had his phone one time to get it repaired. He got a bunch of texts from different group chats and phone calls. Now he’s in 6th grade and he has a bunch of friends he keeps in touch with all the time.
 
mako1331 said:
I'm not overly concerned, honestly. I mean, I still know how to grow good tomatoes and field dress a buck, and these are skills that I've already passed down to my children. My 5yo is already pretty efficient at running a trot-line, and there are still evenings where my 8yo is content to sit out by the lake and catch catfish from dusk till dawn. If the grid goes down, my kids will still know how to plow a field because their grandpa has taught them how to live off the land. You can call us all hillbillies if you want, but if it all goes to hell, we still have access to a shotgun, a rifle, and a four wheel drive, so it doesn't worry me too much if my kids play Roblox for 20 minutes or so in the mornings.
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This reinforces the idea that we all head to Mako’s when something happens. He will take care of us.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
another part of it that is hard for me is that even if you opt out of using a smartphone, the impact is still pervasive

phones up everywhere at the concert, QR code menus, and, most importantly, so many people around just constantly on their phone
Click to expand...
Right, this does it for me. It's like with AI use growing in academics, smart phone use is massive force in society that we individuals have no control over; we're better off finding a way to live with them effectively than to try and fight it, because there is no stopping it.

So far, I have not limited my kids' smart phone use; at 12 they each got one and we monitoring what they use them for. They have expressed very little interest in social media, and mostly use them as an entertainment tool, e.g., for music, or netflix, etc. or as an information tool, looking stuff up on the web or youtube to supplement school info. I think that is mostly because I've put a lot of effort into showing my kid that there is life outside the phone, that is even more interesting than a phone. That started from a very young age though.
 
It's all because Obama gave everyone Obamaphones.
 
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