Brits too - on a tangential point - Childline (a children's charity) reported today a large increase in the numbers of suicidal children from the age of 10.

This is the age children start secondary school, so stress would of course increase there, but it's also the age they start to use mobile phones. Causation != correlation of course, but a pervasive form of bullying that doesn't stop at the school gates, and that can be carried out pseudo-nonymously, might be a significant factor in the uptick seen. That, coupled with constant streams of 'perfect' lives and no place to really discuss teen issues when everything is recorded and potential blackmail material, can't be helping the situation.

If Apple/Google really wanted to make a big difference to people's life quality, they would take steps to mitigate this. They do have a responsibility to their clients, even if they are minors.

And, back on point, they could take a stab at working on stopping phone use if the user is driving (and being able to differentiate between passenger/driver). This, I hear, is also a large problem in NZ, for one, where road fatalities are way higher than they should be.