It's an interesting idea. I presume that the there would be similar laws to selling guns. So there would need to be the national ID card and checks when selling any internet-enabled device. TVs, phones, cameras etc.
I as, a parent would probably need a phone safe, into which I could place my phone when I wasn't using it (though I suppose conceal-carry would be permissible). I;d probably want to have biometric locks on my TV, Chromecast etc etc and the children wouldn't be able to use the TV unsupervised unless all smart functions were locked down.
Doesn't sound particularly cool.
Phones can have passcodes, fingerprint readers, facial recognition (for parents face) to keep kids off them.
Devices can have multiple user accounts, each with different purposes and applications. On my linux laptop, I have two accounts, one for work & one for personal, with distinct applications and configuration.
If all else fail, each manufacturer can product a simple device that can only chat & call with parents in case of emergencies. Can be a simple smart watch or pager like design, or just a dumb phone.
We are at the point where children should not even be exposed to the news (which is primarily incendiary politics these days) unless it is a major event. Smart TV's has so much garbage on them, why should they be allowed to even watch what they want on it?
Either way, ALL of these requires the parents to actually be parents. We can create the perfect technological solution but if the parents expose the child to porn/drugs/social media etc etc and fry their brains, it is a parental problem and not a tech problem.
One of my colleagues had Child Services round, as their daughter had told her school he was abusing her, because he confiscated her mobile (that he was paying for).
Good luck "parenting" any child in this day and age, when any seemingly minor things you think you can do as a parent, lead to that sort of outcome.
How'd you keep a kid off the internet, when they're happy to say anything to the authorities get that internet access back?
12 year olds are not buying their own iPhones and monthly service plans contracts.
Creating a national ID system for this is a weird suggestion that would have no impact on kids whatsoever but would create another centralized database for adults and make basic purchases more difficult and prone to tracking. Why even suggest this?
You can tell who doesn’t have kids by the way they extrapolate from the most extreme anecdotes they’ve heard anywhere.
As a parent, I guarantee you that children calling CPS for having rules imposed is not a common occurrence. You can’t really believe that any household with children is getting visited by CPS whenever they ground their kids.
I am a parent of 2 young kids. Its supremely easier for me to just fuck off, give them screens, any screens and do my own thing, rather than get up and just fucking spend time with them, no screens just physical fun and games. Add mental dimensions to the games as much as you want, but they need to be manual, analog, electricity can be max in form of some physical buttons.
There are 2 types of parents among my peers - those who at least try to be a good parent, most of the time. Literally everybody knows how screens or junk food are damaging, there is no escaping to ignorance of this simple fact. The other type, they are a failure themselves - often obese themselves, empty shallow life without proper healthy passions, glued to their own phones all the time, evenings spent mainly in front of TVs. The type, when they die (and have the time to reflect before) are full of regrets and hate.
Without major exception, kids reflect very well into which category their parents fall into. My best childhood friend falls firmly into second category - whole family is obese (while he was multiple times a wrestling national gold medalist in his late teens and ripped). He is a heavy smoker, both cigarettes and pot, quiet mild alcoholic by his own admission (his wife too given how she gulps whole bottles of wine), no hobbies apart from gardening, no passions, just displays everywhere. Unsurprisingly, their kids are the same, just glued to screens, overweight. They never stood the chance, its always a sad experience to visit them.
All this while he thinks how good their live is compared to many people around them. Subconsciousness desperately ironing reality so they feel better about their lives, despite seeing facts every day from all directions how that ain't true. It keeps breaking my heart every time.
The prime responsibility of a parent towards their child is to do their utmost to raise a happy, well balanced individual who knows what they want in their lives and once adult (or even before) will just get up and go for it, whatever it is. I would personally add a pinch of self-discipline to make it all more probable, also a rare sight these days. Now how many parents around you are like this.
I'm a parent, and it's hard, but 0% of it is hard because of the government meddling in my parenting.
All cause the parent thought it was "cute" that their daughter/son has an instagram/snapchat/etc account. I think parents deep down knows what is going on but cannot face that reality. Or the parents live vicariously through them, trying to relive that self-discovery process as they monitor the devices.