Reader opinion A smartphone pushes a child into the adult world too early

Opinion|Reader’s opinion

In my work as a classroom teacher, I have been amazed for years by the loose attitude of parents and schools towards children’s smartphones. I think the school should more clearly encourage parents to delay the purchase of a smartphone for a child. This would allow peace of mind to teach and reinforce important basics such as reading and numeracy and healthy time management without the smartphone competing alongside these.

Jenni Virtanen referred in her article published in November (HS 21.11.) to a recent study in which more than 80 percent of Finnish parents acquire a smartphone for a child in the first grade. The reason given was that parents want to reach their children when needed. However, the decision is certainly influenced by group pressure: it is acquired because other children also receive it. Virtanen compared the situation to Belgium, where the first smartphone is obtained at the average age of 12. The difference is stark.

A child does not need his or her own smartphone to attend school in a Finnish primary school. On the contrary, it can make it difficult to calm down on important topics and learning content.

Many families do not have sufficient resources to control or restrict the use of a child’s smartphone wisely. In many Finnish families, the use of the telephone is gradually becoming a constant problem and a point of contention.

Restrictions created by an individual teacher or parent will not work effectively for children if the classmates around them or the children of the neighbor act differently. Therefore, school communities should take up the issue and create common practices at an early stage on which parents can rely.

One good practice could be for the child and the parent to use a shared smartphone and purchase a device other than a smartphone for the child to communicate. The school would guide families to common pastimes where reading and mobility are supported and media use is reasonably restricted. This could have an empowering effect on the whole family.

I am grateful to be able to work at a school where students keep their phones in their backpacks for a day. In my career, I’ve seen the use of age-appropriate apps hook, crowd out, and push kids into the adult world too early. Inappropriate content, misinterpreted comments, and bullying are reflected in learning and impair concentration.

At its worst, artificial intelligence controls children’s preferences and undermines the development of a healthy self-image. In his text, Virtanen mentioned the idea of ​​Silja Kosola, a docent in youth medicine, about research in which parents in some classes would not buy smartphones an inch. Kosola thinks it would be really interesting to follow such a class and compare it to others. I would be happy to enroll as a teacher in such a class.

Risto Suutarinen

class teacher, Jyväskylä

Reader opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and delivered by HS’s editorial staff. You can leave a comment or read the principles of writing at www.hs.fi/kirjtamielipidekirjoitus/.