But at least they’ll be functional with a potentially positive trajectory vs their peers.

Social skills are probably the most important and valuable skills to success in life

Social media and staring at a screen destroy social skills. I know, I lived through 2 years of COVID.

You may think this now but maybe wait until your kid is in middle or high school.

Adolescent life is coordinated online now, and you will literally be handicapping your kid if you take a hard line.

His 7 year old friends are not coordinating things online. I know this because we are doing so with their parents.

That doesn't contradict what the parent said. "Adolescent life is coordinated online now" -- your 7-year-old is not an adolescent.

Humans especially children need to be part of healthy social groups.

Being excluded is not setting them up on a positive trajectory.

Are there studies of the long term consequences to children resulting from not giving them a smartphone or access to popular social media?

If my kid has my social skills it's guaranteed - with or without social media.

So either your kid gets infected by other kids, or it becomes a social outcast. Seems both are equality bad, I would even lean towards saying social outcast is less worse than being infected.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot between those two extremes.

Also I never said I’ll never let him use the internet, but it’s not for 7 year olds.

Sorry I was just being sarcastic, my point was exactly that it's not that black and white ;)

Thank you for the parenting advice, anonymous stranger.