Franklin Goins is just like most 11-year-olds. He loves Roblox, riding bikes with his friends, and, of course, he wants a smartphone.
“I would say all of my friends have one,” Goins said. “They sometimes all go bike riding and hang out, and I’m not allowed to go to another neighborhood. But I could with a phone because they could text me.”
His parents, Rachel and her husband Matt, felt the pressure from Franklin and from other families.
“My goal was to hold out for as long as I could,” Rachel said. “But I did think middle school, starting in sixth grade, would be more opportunity for him to be away from us for greater lengths of time, where we would not be in the same place, but we would want to know how he was doing.”
Rachel worried about what Franklin might come across online, even i