The Floor
Should children under fourteen have smartphones?
Nobody sees the split on this one until it opens for everybody at once, on Friday.
Concluded from · A representative national survey of parents, published at the reveal.
Closed 7 days ago
Centred on “Only a limited phone” — the line is where the room balances.
- No
- Only a limited phone
- Yes, it is their world
Where you stand
The room's largest group answered "Only a limited phone".
Answered as you did
—
Lead over second
7 pts
"Only a limited phone" is ahead
Everyone here
1,303
How divided
Genuinely divided
agreed → even
| Answer | Share of the room | People | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | 511 | 39% | |
| Only a limited phonemost | 604 | 46% | |
| Yes, it is their world | 188 | 14% |
The split opens for everyone on 12 Sept.
1,303 have taken a position · 3 reasons
What people are weighing
Take a position to mark what weighed with you
- Four countries have restricted phones in schoolsNo
- A limited phone keeps the safety call and drops the feedOnly a limited phone
- A child without one is outside how their friends talkYes, it is their world
How the room moved
Share of the room, 0 to 100 per cent · 8 Sept to now
What settles this, and when it closes
Nobody sees the split until it opens for everyone at once. Nothing in the world settles it — so when it closes, the floor says what it concludes, from a stated stance.
Counting closes on 12 Sept.
What people said · 3
Every bubble carries the side its writer took.
Take a position above to add your view. You can read everyone else’s now.
Rosa I.@rosa_i· 8 Sept
The argument is always framed as phone or no phone. The thing that does the damage is the feed, and you can take the feed without taking the phone.
Anders K.@anders_k· 9 Sept
Four countries have moved on this inside two years. Governments do not act that fast unless the evidence is one-sided.
Meena V.@meena_v· 10 Sept
Every adult answering this had unsupervised access to something their parents disapproved of. We turned out fine and we are legislating against our own childhoods.
