UNDER THE RADAR

Teens Are Buying Burner Phones to Evade Parental Monitoring: WSJ

The battle over phone use has reached a new frontier.

In an attempt to keep their parents from controlling their time online, teenagers are turning to burner phones and sparking yet another form of parent-child conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports Tuesday. The Journal described the story of Jalyn Van Every, a teen who spent four years battling with her parents over her phone. After her parents kept confiscating her main phone, Van Every purchased a number of burners, sparking heated arguments that eventually caused her to move out of her South Carolina home. “It got so exhausting,” her father said. “It was four years of hell.” Experts told the Journal that Van Every’s story is becoming increasingly common: “Kids can easily get their hands on a phone, through a friend, buying one online,” said a digital literacy educator. “The only thing that works is education, teaching them the upsides and downsides of tech, and helping them establish their own boundaries.”