Smartphones

Mothers and fathers have to be far more aggressive in governing their kids’ access to media and technology.

On the personal side, these exemptions usually apply to technologies that play a key logistical role. If your daughter uses text messaging to tell you when she’s ready to be picked up from soccer practice, then it’s okay to still use text messages for this purpose.

If you’re worried about emergencies, you can easily adjust the settings so calls from a selected list (your spouse, your kid’s school) do come through. You can also set a schedule that turns the phone to this mode automatically during predetermined times.