There’s a really good chance your child has asked you to get them a smartphone. My first conversation was with my oldest child when he was in kindergarten. His classmate had one and used it to play games during the school day. Whatever age you child, this conversation is fraught with big emotions, a predictable “but everyone else has one” argument, and the difficulty as a parent of threading the needle between being intentional and being out of touch with reality. It’s not easy, and today’s conversation will walk through the research and practice that will help inform our decisions, as well as practical steps we can take to help get our children on the road to eventual (if delayed) digital independence.

Resources:

• Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling In Las Vegas. The book I couldn’t remember in the podcast–Ms. Dow Schull looks at how slot machines engage users beyond just gambling, and the implications that has for other digital tech.
• Gabb Wireless: great options for trainer phones
• The Wise Phone: another great dumb phone option
• An article we wrote for Fierce Parenting on how to make your smartphone a dumb phone
• A great Protect Young Eyes article on home routers

Some other honorable mentions:

• Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. A look at unhealthy tech design and specifically the pull to refresh in Smartphones.
• The Social Dilemma: A documentary that sheds light on some of the design aspects of social media (although know going in that the documentary falls short of giving any practical or hopeful next steps)
• Hooked: How To Build Habit Forming Products A book by Nir Eyal in which he explores “experiences designed to connect the user’s problem with the company’s product with enough frequency to form a habit.”