Should Smartphone Sales to Kids be Regulated?

There is a minimum age to legally drive, smoke cigarettes and own a gun. Why not to own a Smartphone? 

The recent news about 42 states suing Meta, accusing the tech giant of harming kids through their social media platforms, got me to pondering: Should Smartphone sales be regulated for children?

The lawsuits accuse the tech giant of enticing children onto their platforms and, through their strategies, addicting them to their products. States argue that research has linked children's use of Meta's social media platforms, specifically Instagram, with "depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes,’’ according to a Reuters article. 

The outcome of these lawsuits will take a while but they should spark an important debate: Are kids suited to the powers and influence of Smartphones – and all of the social media and other access they provide?

How Much Access is Too Much?

Kids can’t drive until age 16 or 17, depending on the state. They can’t buy cigarettes until age 21, according to federal law, and gun purchases from licensed dealers are prohibited until age 18 or 21, depending on the type of gun.

So why not a minimum age for Smartphone purchases? The access and tools they provide to children can be dangerous, too. Sure, there are monitoring and restrictive tools that parents can employ but the fact is, parents can’t monitor everything. And even if they do, it might be too late before the harm is done.

I don’t have any research to back this up but I’m certain it’s easier for a kid to be mean via social media than face-to-face. It’s easier to compare yourself to, and feel lesser than, the thousands of manipulated images of beauty you see on social media than the handful of real-life ones you see in-person. It’s easier to scroll through hundreds of repetitive, recommended images and videos than curl up with a good book. 

Addictive Pull

Any parent who has had to practically crow bar a Smartphone out of their children’s hand or tell a group of friends sitting together to put down their phones and talk to each other, understands  the magnetic pull of social media.

I know there are many arguments against this: Leave the oversight to parents. Keep the government out of our lives. Kids need Smartphones to communicate with their parents and caregivers. Even if we restrict sales, parents will still buy them and give them to their kids. Kids will use other devices to access social media.

There will always be ways to get around the law. What I’m arguing is: Why leave it up to the profit-making social media companies to be responsible when there are other options to take control.