One of the defining habits of modern life is that whenever something goes wrong, we increasingly expect government to fix it.
The latest debate over children and smartphones is just one example.
Parents already have the power to deal with this - they can say no.
Phones can be restricted. Apps can be blocked. Devices can be taken away. Bedrooms can be phone-free.
None of this requires legislation. It requires parenting.
Which raises the obvious question. If the solution already exists, why are so many people asking government to step in?
The great outsourcing
The smartphone debate is really just a symptom of something bigger. Over the last 20-30 years we’ve developed a habit.
When something goes wrong socially, we look to government to fix it.
Kids spend too much time online. Diets are unhealthy. Behaviour in schools is deteriorating.
Each time the instinct is the same. A problem appears. And we ask what the state should do.
But many of these problems aren’t policy failures. They’re responsibility failures.
The uncomfortable bit
Parenting involves friction. You have to say no. You have to tolerate the occasional slammed door. You have to accept that your children might not always approve of your decisions.
Many parents would rather avoid that conflict.
So the temptation is obvious. If government bans something, parents are no longer the villain. “It’s not us. It’s the rule.” Authority outsourced.
The pattern we keep repeating
The strange thing is that we’ve been running this experiment for decades. Government has steadily taken on more responsibility for social problems. Yet the results are often mixed at best. Still, when something goes wrong the answer is usually the same.
More intervention.
Albert Einstein is often credited with defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. Whether he actually said it is beside the point. The observation feels familiar.
The harder answer
Government can write rules. But it cannot replace culture. It cannot replace responsibility. And it certainly cannot parent your children.
Many problems don’t need new policies. They need people willing to do something much simpler.
Take responsibility.