Montreal City Weblog

Kate 10:04 on 2023-03-08 Permalink Reply  

• walkerp 12:47 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Why the fuck do girls in grades 5 and 6 have cellphones?!

  Might as well give your daughters cigarettes, probably be healthier.

• Kate 12:49 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Because their friends do.

• jeather 12:56 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  That’s when kids start middle school (in other areas) and I think it’s not uncommon for kids to get cell phones then in those locations, so if you have friends or family elsewhere it’s a pull. It’s also about the age I started having phone conversations with friends, and I imagine kids these days also want to contact their friends outside of school without direct mediation from their parents. So either a family has landlines — not a bad idea, but rare — or they let their kids wander off with their cell phones or get their kids their own phones (or tablets or whatever it is that kids use to contact each other) or they just say sorry kids, you don’t get to speak to your friends. If this isn’t something coming up at 10-11, it’s coming up by 13.

  Notice this was found when the mother was, appropriately, checking up on the usage of her daughter’s phone/tablet.

• walkerp 12:58 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  That pressure does not become really acute until secondaire. Even 13 years is too young, but developmentally it’s a massive leap from 10 or 11. Parents need to stand firm.

  And imagine, having a teacher of the opposite sex texting your kid in any grade?! Just so not appropriate. Good thing that one mom was vigilant and lucky for the teacher she went to the cops.

• shawn 13:18 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Walkerp this is about SM rather than cellphones specifically but here’s a great recent article https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/social-media-mental-illness-epidemic

• walkerp 13:23 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Thank you, Shawn. I am building up some articles to share with the parents committee of my daughter’s school to help other parents manage this issue, so this is helpful.

• Joey 14:27 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  The first phone often coincides with the year in which the kid starts going to and from school without any parents (esp. if via public transit). I’d guess that most of those first phones are hand-me-down smartphones that the parents have replaced, rather than a basic dumbphone…

• jeather 15:46 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  On the other hand, it isn’t like teachers (coaches, priests, etc) didn’t abuse children pre-smartphone, they just did it without leaving easily available proof. I’m not saying that you should or should not give your child a phone/tablet at any specific age and what restrictions there should be on it, but “why did the kids even have phones” seems like not the actual issue here.

• walkerp 16:06 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Yes, agree. It’s a side issue, just one for which I believe the alarm should be ringing. But yes, you are right, predators going to creep in every age, sadly.

• Tee Owe 16:06 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  Agree with Jeather – !

• Ian 19:50 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  My daughters got cell phones at that age because they started taking the bus to school themselves. My older daughter first got hit on by an adult man when she was 10. Predators aren’t just gym teachers.

  I stand by my decision, young girls (especially) should never be in a situation they can’t call for help, and there’s hardly any pay phones left.

• Chris 21:02 on 2023-03-08 Permalink

  walkerp, you might be interested in reading some of Dr. Jonathan Haidt’s writings on the effects of smartphones on the young.

• Meezly 10:55 on 2023-03-09 Permalink

  @shawn, thanks for sharing that study. I will also share it with other parents as I feel it’s something we all need to get on board with.