{"id":147731,"date":"2025-08-15T11:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/147731\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T11:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:55:11","slug":"for-kids-smartwatches-are-replacing-cellphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/147731\/","title":{"rendered":"For kids, smartwatches are replacing cellphones."},"content":{"rendered":"

Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com<\/a>. To subscribe, sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I knew they were arguing about something when they got off the bus, and my older son, who was finishing his second year of high school, came through the door first complaining about how his little brother and his sixth-grade buddies never shut up on the bus.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when my 12-year-old burst in the door, about to get an \u201cAmen!\u201d from me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because we\u2019re the only ones who don\u2019t have phones!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Senate wants to make that everyone. The lawmakers recently voted to ban students\u2019 cellphones<\/a> during the school day, all the way through high school. If approved in the House and signed by the governor, we\u2019ll join the 14 states<\/a> that have some form of a phone ban in schools. Students will still have their faces buried in Chromebooks, but zero phones. Polls show that three-quarters of Americans<\/a> support the idea, and the states that have followed-through report happier students and teachers.<\/p>\n

When my younger son finished elementary school, for a graduation gift we surprised him with a watch, an Apple SE, the cheapest of the Apple watches, because it checked every box you\u2019d want and none you wouldn\u2019t. For kids. And probably for adults.<\/p>\n

His crew of buddies received the same exact gift, and what\u2019s very weird, and perhaps not surprising, is that the parents hadn\u2019t coordinated. It just makes that much sense for a first mobile device. The market for smart watches is already at $7.3 billion globally<\/a>, and expected to grow 15 percent a year for the next decade.<\/p>\n

The cellular model of the watch doesn\u2019t have to be paired with a phone, and has its own number along with its own plan, which is just $10 a month. (Other brands include Cosmo, Gabb, Gizmo<\/a>, and more.) The voice text works just fine. It has location tracker and GPS, and access to apps, which parents can allow or not, but all of it is on a screen so tiny it\u2019s hardly worth it. No one can look at their wrist for five hours a day.<\/p>\n

Which is the amount of time the average American spends on their phone each day, according to surveys<\/a>. Back of the napkin calculations tell me that if you multiply five hours by 365 and divide by the 16 hours we\u2019re awake, you get 114 days. That\u2019s April 24, if you started at the new year and did nothing else.<\/p>\n

My 12-year-old remains at zero, and I wish I could join him. For the second straight summer I\u2019ve watched him get up every day, curl up on the couch, and then speak into his wrist like Buck Rogers. Does anyone want to go fishing? Or play soccer at the school? Let\u2019s do something.<\/p>\n

After breakfast, he disappears on his bike, and will check in with odd questions and requests, coming in and out of the house with other kids with watches. At some point his older brother will emerge to flop onto the couch and disappear into his phone.<\/p>\n

He got his phone for Christmas in eighth grade, which is on the late side. But it didn\u2019t take but a moment for him to start using it way too much, just like everyone else.<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts bill would ban phones from \u201cbell to bell,\u201d and the hope is that it will lead to improvements in mental health and the social lives of the students, and limit the endless distraction of the world\u2019s most influential device begging to be played with. The bill has support from Governor Healey and the state\u2019s two largest teachers unions, but it is unclear when the House will take up the matter. Some opponents have listed safety concerns in case of emergency, and say that a ban would deprive schools of the chance to teach students how to become responsible about screen time.<\/p>\n

That seems like wishful thinking. But this is not: If the House passes the bill, which cruised through the Senate 38-2, it will go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year, and my younger son will graduate from high school without spending a single day in school with a phone to distract him. And his brother will sound like we do when we look back on the days before helmets and seatbelts. He\u2019ll talk about being the last generation to spend all day screwing around on his phone, before we realized how antisocial \u2014 and harmful \u2014 that could be.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udde9 5 Down:<\/b> Club for swingers?<\/a> | \ud83c\udf24\ufe0f 78\u00b0<\/b> Much more comfortable<\/a><\/p>\n

\"GarrettGarrett Crochet (left), Trevor Story (center), and Greg Weissert model some of Paul Procopio’s creations.Tim Healey\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Cannabis Control Commission: <\/b>A state audit of the agency that regulates Massachusetts\u2019 marijuana industry found widespread mismanagement and rule violations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Market Basket: <\/b>A judge granted the grocery chain\u2019s request for a restraining order against two fired executives who are allies of its suspended CEO, barring them from stores and offices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Language arts: <\/b>Boston Public Schools are expanding multilingual education programs<\/a>, but not fast enough to keep up with the city\u2019s growing immigrant population.<\/p>\n

Tough start: <\/b>Braintree lost its first Little League World Series game in a 13-0 rout that ended by mercy rule<\/a> after four innings.<\/p>\n

Threatening: <\/b>Video appears to show a man brandishing a hatchet at pro-Palestinian protesters<\/a> in Cambridge on Sunday. Police are investigating.<\/p>\n

Storied shirts: <\/b>This lifelong Red Sox fan has become the source for the team\u2019s beloved custom-made T-shirts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RFK Jr.: <\/b>Trump\u2019s health secretary is hostile toward the mRNA technology underpinning Covid vaccines, chilling investment in experimental therapies that could help treat cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fear everywhere\u2019:<\/b> ICE has focused more on Worcester and Boston so far, but fears of arrest and deportation permeate Central Falls<\/a>, Rhode Island\u2019s only majority-Latino city.<\/p>\n

Arrested: <\/b>The man who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal agent<\/a> in D.C. and called him a fascist was a Justice Department employee. He lost his job and faces a felony assault charge.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence: <\/b>Meta let its AI chatbots have \u201cromantic or sensual\u201d conversations with kids. Lawmakers pledged to investigate. (Reuters<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Call it antisocial media: <\/b>Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were meant to foster connection. Instead, they\u2019re isolating and consuming us<\/a>, Rebecca Spiess writes.<\/p>\n

A D.C. debate: <\/b>The capital city\u2019s intolerably high crime rates<\/a> justify deploying the National Guard, Heather Mac Donald argues. But crime in D.C. is falling, Eugene Scott counters, suggesting that doing so is really just Trump\u2019s latest attempt to punish liberal cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By Teresa Hanafin<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfdf\ufe0f Jarren Duran lookalikes: <\/b>If you think you resemble the Red Sox outfielder, show up on the Big Concourse at Fenway (Gate C) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (you must have a ticket to that game). You could win tickets<\/a> and a signed baseball.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc36 Take one, leave one: <\/b>At Little Fresh Pond Dog Beach in Cambridge, your canine companion can participate in a library exchange program \u2014 for sticks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfd6\ufe0f Same vibe:<\/b> Obsessed with the Prime Video series \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty\u201d? Here are places on the Cape and Vineyard<\/a> that capture the feel of Cousins Beach.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcbf Quiet summer:<\/b> No up-tempo, catchy, season-defining hit has emerged as the 2025 song of summer. Is the concept dead<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Weekend streams:<\/b> \u201cButterfly\u201d on Prime Video, \u201cNight Always Comes\u201d on Netflix, \u201cThe Legend of Ochi\u201d on HBO Max, and more TV and movies to watch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc98 Blind date:<\/b> They both enjoy board games, among other things. Will one of them make the first move<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd11 Tourist tales:<\/b> Keys dropped in toilets, shockingly unprepared travelers, missing kids. Here are some wild stories from New England visitor centers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading Starting Point.<\/p>\n

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2753 Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u270d\ud83c\udffc If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcec Delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n

Billy Baker can be reached at billy.baker@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Instagram @billy_baker<\/a>.<\/p>\n