SMARTPHONE LIMITS FOR KIDS UNDER 13 MOVES A STEP CLOSER

Colorado officials have cleared the language of a proposed ballot measure that would establish the United States’ first legal limits on buying smartphones for children. Backers of the move to forbid the sale of smartphones to children younger than 13 would now need about 300,000 voter signatures for the proposal to make the 2018 ballot. The ban would require cellphone retailers to ask customers about the age of the primary user of a smartphone and submit monthly reports to the Colorado Department of Revenue on adhering to the requirement. Retailers who sell a phone for use by a youngster could be fined US$500, after a warning. The campaign is being led by Denver-area dad and doctor Tim Farnum, who was inspired after watching his own kids struggle with the psychological effects of constant connection.