Screen Time, First iPhones & Junior High

I remember one of the first days of this semester, we talked in class about when we received our first phone, and what it was. I remember in sixth grade when I was given my very first one. It was an iPhone four with a huge pink case to prevent me from inflicting damage as a twelve year old. I recall protecting the tiny computer with my life, never taking the bulky protective case off from fear of cracking my tiny screen. I felt obligated to, because I felt special to even have a phone in the first place.

Nowadays- and I don't want to shift the blame for having a phone at a young age- but... My little sister received her very first phone at eight years old on Christmas, and I was appalled. Why did our parents feel the need to let her obtain a tiny computer? What could she possibly need an iPhone for in second grade? There is no good reason.

Now for the reason I had my first phone. I was in a s*** ton of after school activities and my mother needed to know when and if she was picking me up from school or not. I'd say that registers a good enough reason to have a tiny computer. Looking back- I wish my phone would've come to me a little bit later because I lived less than a mile from the school. I could've also had a flip-phone rather than a device that could literally do everything for me. So, yeah- I was privileged. I have no other way of justifying my craving for a tiny computer at twelve years old.
So there! I've admitted my sins, what more could you want from me? Just kidding, I'm going to tell you about my little sister and why she should be the last person on Earth to have an iPhone. Let's go back to where it all started... Where I met Aspen...

Here's me with the phone-addicted-demon herself. If you look closely you can see the terror in my eyes.

That's her! I want to explain why I see Aspen the way that I do. She's not a bad kid by any means- but her attitude and decisions are very questionable as a (now) ten year old. I recall one situation during Christmas... My grandparents got her a $100 iTunes gift card because they don't know what ten year olds like nowadays. A week later, I came into her room and saw her playing Roblox... Out of curiosity, I asked her what kind of music she had bought so far with her money. I thought it would be innocent, you know- all the Katy Perry singles or the soundtrack for Frozen 2... But she told me... that she had spent it all on this game- Roblox. To buy coins so she could be rich on the game. I didn't know what to say, so I left the room. Shouldn't there be more regulation for something like this?? My little sister just wasted $100 of my grandparents money on a game that she will delete from her phone in two months! We need to take power. We need an age limit for iPhones!

So I found a great thing for setting an age limit for smartphones. It's updated. It's quirky. It has a good argument. Here it is! Check it out! I give to you the "Wait Until 8th" Campaign!!! I wish this was around before I got my phone. There's really no need to have a tiny computer before the age of 13-14. Junior High has an office phone for students to use. We've made it so far in the public school system without smartphones... Why are the ten year old gremlins demanding them now? I know it's because "everybody has one!" but who bought their half-developed brain kid the first smartphone? I think I know where it started. Theory: Parents get their iPhones updated, they don't know what to do with their sh*tty iPhone C's... So they think, "Okay, I'll just disable the texting and calling and give it to our only child in elementary so they won't bother me, hahaha." Then the kid takes it to school, shows it off and makes all the other gremlins jealous and then they go home, scream at their parents, and their parents give in and think that one more line on the phone plan wouldn't hurt. 

So. There's my take on tiny computers in kids pockets. Kids and smartphones don't mix. 

Screen time time! I want to talk about this because people are usually embarrassed by the amount of time they spend on their phones. I'm even embarrassed because it doesn't seem that we spend THAT much time on our phones... But here's my proof. 

As you can see, I spend a lot of time on messages and unsurprisingly TikTok. 

This is just from the beginning of the week, If I documented my time at the end of the week- there would be an influx of Spotify, TikTok and Pinterest. So my weekly average of time spent on my tiny computer is about four hours, but my boyfriend has a weekly average of six and a half hours total... which makes no sense because most of his time is spent with me. But the point is... What justifies why other people around me have about the same or more time spent on their phones? Maybe it’s because my friends have more free time than i do... and i spend my free time doing art or watching Netflix on the TV. 

So there’s a basic breakdown and formal informational piece on what i think of my sister, when kids should get phones, and my screen time info.