Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs With Smartphones?

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/14/2017 at 16:36 • Filed to: None

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[R]esearchers are starting to ponder an intriguing question: Are teenagers using drugs less in part because they are constantly stimulated and entertained by their computers and phones?....People are carrying around a portable !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! pump, and kids have basically been carrying it around for the last 10 years....”

It is indeed an intriguing thought. My wife and I require that our kids charge their phones overnight in the living room, so their sleep isn’t interrupted by chirping alerts and they aren’t tempted to text late into the night. But taking the phone away from my 14-year-old is often like taking crack away from an addict. This question is finally getting some well-deserved study.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (NYTimes)

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:38

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Better give them crack so they stop using smart phones

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:42

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RIP the narcos

DipodomysDeserti > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:44

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They’re doing the wrong drugs if it can be replaced by a smart phone.

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:45

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My 6 - year - old has only known the classic NES (for the past couple months) and the various apps like Angry Birds — the latter can ’ t be escaped because they ’ re in the schools now. Kids get video game time for good behavior. It ’ s technically called “ free choice ” but when you put a rat in a maze with cheese and heroin, you know where they ’ ll go. Absolutely this creates addict - like behavior.

ttyymmnn > EL_ULY 03/14/2017 at 16:45

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I won’t shed a tear.

My bird IS the word > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:50

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Teenagers are supplementing drugs with smartphones.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:52

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If the drugs are good enough the kids will just put down their phones.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 16:57

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Good, more for me... *sniff.

LongbowMkII > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 17:04

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why not both?

ttyymmnn > DipodomysDeserti 03/14/2017 at 17:10

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Well, the point is that they aren’t picking up the drugs in the first place.

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 03/14/2017 at 17:11

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We all like our phones, and our family even plays Pokemon Go together. But we are trying hard to set limits, have phone-free time. I’ve made it very clear to my 14yo that as long as I’m paying the bill it’s my phone and his use of it is a privilege. Right now, the biggest leverage I have is threatening to send him to school without it.

ttyymmnn > gin-san - shitpost specialist 03/14/2017 at 17:12

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But the point is that they aren’t picking them up in the first place.

ttyymmnn > LongbowMkII 03/14/2017 at 17:12

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Indeed.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 17:25

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[aksually] [proceeds to tell you how to properly parent]

Consider getting a not-smart phone as the punishment phone, just swapping the SIM card. I’ve known people who took smartphones from their kids, had an emergency, then couldn’t reach their kids.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 17:30

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It’s just replacing one addiction with another. This one’s just a little healthier.

DipodomysDeserti > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 17:40

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Or that smart phones are more addictive than most drugs teens have access to (marijuana).

ttyymmnn > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 03/14/2017 at 17:52

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Physically, perhaps. But the psychological addiction is just as strong.

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 03/14/2017 at 17:53

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I like that idea. Will an iPhone sim fit in a cheap flip phone?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 17:54

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Maybe and then sometime in their 20s rptheh realize the sadness, and futility of being focused on a phone all the time, and reach for a real vice to compensate.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 18:00

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Yes, but you may need an adapter

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ttyymmnn 03/14/2017 at 19:08

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Yeah I should have been more specific. Add in social drama and emotions and it’s probably just as bad mentally.