{"id":163440,"date":"2024-06-25T19:46:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T19:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=163440"},"modified":"2024-06-25T19:46:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T19:46:06","slug":"some-people-are-turning-away-from-smartphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/some-people-are-turning-away-from-smartphones\/","title":{"rendered":"Some People Are Turning Away From \u2018Smartphones\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adults and teens concerned about their screen time are turning in their smartphones for \u201cdumber\u201d models<\/em><\/p>\n

Buried in the settings of many smartphones is the option to look up how much on average you are staring at your phone per day. It can bring an uncomfortable realisation, that what was supposed to be a useful piece of technology has become an obsession.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirtual communication networks are built around FOMO (fear of missing out), so I felt like I couldn\u2019t get off it<\/em>,\u201d 16-year-old Luke Martin, from Canada, told the BBC<\/em>. \u201cI got Instagram and it was a downward spiral<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luke is not alone. According to a study by Harvard University, using virtual networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that is also triggered when taking an addictive substance. This has raised concerns about phone habits among youth.<\/p>\n

In the UK, research by Ofcom estimates that around a quarter of children aged five to seven years old now have their own smartphone.<\/p>\n

Links have been shown in some studies between use of virtual communication networks and a harmful effect on psychic health \u2013 especially in children.<\/p>\n

Some campaigners want age limits to be introduced for smartphone use. Others, like Luke, are choosing to swap their smartphones for much simpler devices, so-called \u201cdumbphones<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

His new phone only has texts, calls, maps, and a few other limited tools.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friends\u2019 smartphone usage is like four to five hours a day I think, and that\u2019s how much mine used to be as well before I got this dumbphone<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cNow mine\u2019s like 20 minutes a day, which is really good because I only use it for what I need it for<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents are also turning to dumbphones, not only for their children, but to help themselves be more present for their families.<\/p>\n

Lizzy Broughton, who has a five-year-old son, recently bought an old-school style Nokia \u201cflip\u201d phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped me recalibrate my own habits, I have way more quality time with my son<\/em>,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

She says that when it\u2019s time for him to get his own phone, she\u2019ll choose a similarly pared-down model.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like the best idea to just start with a smartphone<\/em>,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re handing over the world, like \u2018Try to figure out how to navigate that\u2019<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sales of dumbphones have been increasing in North America. At Dumbwireless in Los Angeles, store-owners Daisy Krigbaum and Will Stults cater to customers looking for low-tech devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of parents looking to get their kid that first phone, and they don\u2019t want them drifting off on the internet<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But giving up the smartphone is easier said than done. Mr. Stults said some schools require pupils to have certain apps. And it is difficult to hold the line when children see their friends being given expensive smartphones, said Ms. Broughton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to require a community of parents to actually consider, can we do this differently?<\/em>\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One workaround is a device called \u201cunpluq<\/em>\u201d, which you tap against the phone to wirelessly block certain apps, like virtual communication ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents can control the smartphone with this tag, and also monitor the usage<\/em>,\u201d Mr. Stults said.<\/p>\n

There are several phones that have now been developed particularly for users who want to avoid an addiction to scrolling for hours.<\/p>\n

Chris Kaspar founded the company Techless to develop an \u201cintentionally boring<\/em>\u201d but sleek device that looks much like an iPhone. The latest version is dubbed the \u201cWisephone II<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has no icons, just words, two colours, and two fonts<\/em>.\u201d He describes it as \u201cvery peaceful, very tranquil<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

It will have some limited third-party tools, such as the taxi application Uber, but no virtual communication apps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re asking this question\u2014what\u2019s actually good for us?<\/em>\u201d Mr Kaspar said.<\/p>\n

He first developed the phone thinking about his teenage foster daughters and says 25% of their sales are to children, but that it is marketed to adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a phone that\u2019s branded as a kids\u2019 device there\u2019s some shame associated with that. So we made a very adult, sophisticated, Apple-esque, really nice device<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With revenue from apps and virtual communication networks advertisement in the billions of dollars, the big companies have little motivation to encourage different habits, he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Canadian teen Luke says he is planning to stick with his new device, much to the amusement of friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think it\u2019s pretty weird but at this point it doesn\u2019t really matter because it helped me so much<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely taken me into a better spot<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nJune 25, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adults and teens concerned about their screen time are turning in their smartphones for \u201cdumber\u201d models Buried in the settings of many smartphones is the option to look up how much on average you are staring at your phone per day. It can bring an uncomfortable realisation, that what was supposed to be a useful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society-1602-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163444,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163440\/revisions\/163444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}