Thanks for the suggestion of the video Elaine!  She had some interesting facts and stats. I found her graphs about prevalence of anxiety and the 50% saturation of smartphone use eye opening.

 Colleeen's point, of parents wanting to be able to get a hold of their children anytime necessary and of chidlren as young as grade 2 or 3 getting phones is also interesting.  

I wonder if GenX'ers are passing their anxiety down to their children and that is getting transmitted via the need to be in constant contact.  Yes, we live in a world where there are school shootings and and school lock downs, and there is a comfort to know that a parent can get in touch with their child at any time.  At what cost though?  

If schools are going to take on working with students to use the technology "appropriately" in whatever that means, I wonder if it would be prudent to have a parallel process for the parents?

There are so many questions swirling around my brain, both as a parent of a child growing up in the digital age, as well as a therapist who sees people impacted by tech use.