Button phones are fighting smartphones. How 'dumbphones' are becoming parents' weapon against TikTok and screen addiction
Technology is good, as long as we don't become its slaves. And children are the most vulnerable. PHOTO: Shutterstock
“I bought him a phone so I know he's safe. I can call him anytime and see on the app if he got home/school safe.” That's what many of us said to ourselves when we decided (with a heavy heart) to buy the kids a smartphone. Although no one denies the usefulness and role of smartphones in the life of a family, almost all of us end up saying at some point that “we brought the devil into the house”. There is, more recently, a worldwide trend: parents are turning to “dumbphones”, i.e. “dumb” phones, to protect their children from TikTok and late-night gaming.
Phones in the “dumbphone” category are new generation, but have only the basic functionalities. That's how the idea of ”Nokia Revival” (the reissue of the famous phones with buttons) appeared, but also initiatives by parents who say “no” to smart phones, at least until the 8th grade.
Today's children do not need much time to decipher the mysteries of a device. They are just born in the age of technology! But, in just a few days, we can see the changes in their lives (and the whole family). And not necessarily in a good way. No matter how many parental control apps we install and no matter how much we try to impose limits when it comes to screen time, the internet and, more specifically, endless scrolling from a feed in another, from one application to another, they “steal” our children altogether. And, researchers say, the risks are enormous.
Blue screen intruder
The phone given, at first, as a useful tool to the family, tends to become an intrusive presence, a distraction in which children's hours and minds are lost, an intruder that no longer allows the little ones to be present and attentive. The smartphone came with nights wasted in front of the screen, with “give me 5 more minutes, I'll finish the game”, with arguments and discussions interrupted by a “ding”, with dinner on the run or staring at the screen. And then we all ask ourselves, slapping our foreheads, “What did I do?! I needed my smartphone!?”
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