FabSwingers.com forum: modern day technology

By *arren and Alicia OP Couple
6 weeks ago

Glasgow

do you think there should be a minimum age for mobile phones etc

say may be 18 let kids be kids and no under 18 on social media to stop cyber bullying etc also to stop paedophile rings happening too

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By *adbod451000Man
6 weeks ago

cardiff

Personally I think mobiles are a good thing for children for safety reasons if they are out alone and stuff. But I do agree the issues that develop from social media use and such like can be bad. My daughter had issues with social media which could have been prevented with higher age levels and more security online.

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By *ickD80Man
6 weeks ago

Wolverhampton

I think that social media is going to ruin an entire generation. It’s ironic that it’s called social media because it turns people into completely unsociable, mutes. Social media is programmed to be addictive and it succeeds at it, most young people can’t take their eyes off their phones and have no interest in having an actual face to face conversation or participating in what’s happening around them. They don’t interact with or observe their piers so they won’t know how to behave when they’re adults. A lot of our personality comes from what we’ve seen and heard around us as we’ve been growing up but this generation is going to miss out on that entirely.

It would be so simple to block anyone under a certain age using social media…it could be linked to a bank account so you have to enter your debit card details before you can log on and the account holders date of birth is linked to the card, or national insurance number as you don’t get one until you’re 16, or having their date of birth entered in the settings on their phone and it can only be changed by using a pin code that only a guardian knows….if they wanted to avoid social media ruining a generation they easily could but they never will because the majority of their profit is made off the back of the generation they’re ruining.

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By *ong-leggedblondWoman
6 weeks ago

Next Door

"Personally I think mobiles are a good thing for children for safety reasons if they are out alone and stuff. But I do agree the issues that develop from social media use and such like can be bad. My daughter had issues with social media which could have been prevented with higher age levels and more security online. "

But people lie about their age.

But I do agree, social media needs policing with age level more but it would be so difficult to manage.

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By *ansoffateMan
6 weeks ago

Sagittarius A

Devices are intrinsically neutral, it's how they are used and managed that requires intervention. IMO

I don't think it's enforceable anyway, young people would still get access to them, their activity would just be more concealed and there would be even less guidance on their safe use.

So no, I think it's an ineffective strategy that would increase risk.

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
6 weeks ago

East Sussex

No age limit to have a mobile but I do feel parents need to put safety checks in place until age 16, possibly 18.

I've said this before no sane parent would allow their child to spend time alone physically with 95% of the utter weirdos you find on the net but happily hand them a device that does just that and more. Put parental controls on their phones and make a condition of having them that they allow you access to their history.

It's not invasion of privacy it's common bloody sense.

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By *r.EdibleMan
6 weeks ago

Fraserburgh

Its near impossible to police, but agree mobile phones have been more damage that good for the latest generations. They have their good points, but the complete inability to escape bullying by still being subjected to it in the home is tragic - at least if it happened before the victims were safe once the bullies left the vicinity. Also an entire generation that only communicate (barely) on screen is lamentble. I made many mistakes as a teenager, but I made them with my friends, not in my house watching other people make them.

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By *randMrsShebaCouple
6 weeks ago

Birmingham

Yes. They should get an old Nokia for times they are away from home.

It's too much of a distraction. They are distracted and over stimulated in other ways.

Id allow PlayStation's and desktops for gaming or learning.

But a smart phone or a pad no.

because they can pull it out at any time and it focuses their attention too much.

They need to be reading books or playing with mechano, kinex or Lego or something.

Should shield them from too much sugar or over stimulating distracting devices because we adults are all addicted enough.

Why do parents now seem like they give into demands of children or nonsense schools?

We aren't parents yet. We both have experience with children though. In our eyes we just see them in the community messing around, eating junk, wearing inappropriate clothes, littering etc....

We can't see how it's possible for the parents and schools to allow such bad routine.

id not let my children have anything they want untill their chores were fully done. I'd make sure their routine was balanced and kept them busy/socially active in different positive ways.

I'm going to avoid sending my kids to state school here I'm considering them going to a good African school near their own families town.

If I have to send them to a school here I'd pick a Catholic school.

I don't want my kids having monster energy drinks, iPhones, vape pens and booty shorts (yeh I'm serious that's disgusting).

I'd treat stuff like that like cigarettes. It's against my rules.

We are from German and African backgrounds we want our children to be the best at things and self disciplined.

It's a big deal to us not to have our kids copy the other children in modern state school. They need to be at dance/music/sport/cool hobbies.

If you are upper class you send you're kids to Eaton so we should copy the positive aspects of the way those people bring up children and not the woke crap.

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By *ophieslutTV/TS
6 weeks ago

Central

I'd be happy with enforced age limits but a vocal minority wouldn't. Plus the tech lords have lots of money and power

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
6 weeks ago

East Sussex

"I'd be happy with enforced age limits but a vocal minority wouldn't. Plus the tech lords have lots of money and power

True.

Individual parents and carers can enforce age limits. We did with our kids as far as possible. It didn't protect them 100% but we did head off trouble plenty of times.

Of course it's hard with teenagers especially but the stakes are high.

What I notice is that many people sit back and say 'they should do something' while doing nothing themselves. That's how the vocal minority win the day. If all concerned parents spoke up now instead of waiting for something bad to happen then blaming social media, perhaps we would get somewhere.

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By *arlequin_tearsMan
6 weeks ago

Sheffield

"do you think there should be a minimum age for mobile phones etc

say may be 18 let kids be kids and no under 18 on social media to stop cyber bullying etc also to stop paedophile rings happening too"

Technology is a tool. What is needed are better ways to manage and use the tools.

With the tech having been around for well over a decade, and most children using tablets and being online for school work. The toothpaste is well out of the tube and trying to enforce an 18 or above on a phone now isn't going to work.

Most Social Media requires people to be 13+ to use it. There are simple controls to manage who sees content etc.

There are also simple things you can do to stay safe. But this requires:

a) Parents to educate themselves

b) To actually parent their kids. As opposed to assuming schools, or the government to regulate things to death.

Paedophile rings?

If you rant at the BBC about Jimmy Saville, and Gary Glitter then you know that paedophile rings have been around a lot longer than mobile phones, or smart phones or even phones.

Much like all sexual assaults, the victim will tend to know their abuser. So tech restriction isn't going to help.

It's a horribly sad fact that people (and large parts of the media) like scapegoating things to provide simple solutions for more complex social problems.

Want your kids to be safer online and not being exposed to harmful content?

Parent your kids, be involved in their lives in a positive way, stop using tech to baby sit them.

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By *sTiqueWoman
6 weeks ago

Ilkley

"I'd be happy with enforced age limits but a vocal minority wouldn't. Plus the tech lords have lots of money and power

True.

Individual parents and carers can enforce age limits. We did with our kids as far as possible. It didn't protect them 100% but we did head off trouble plenty of times.

Of course it's hard with teenagers especially but the stakes are high.

Totally this. Parents need to step up, kids are not going out and buying their own devices at 8/9/13/ whatever - and you are so right about the 'they should sort it' refrain!!

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By *ollocksDoodlesMan
6 weeks ago

Erdington

Mobile phones ate only part of the problem. The Internet fucked everything up.

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