It seems similar to 15ish years ago in some ways. I remember my parents insisting instant messaging would result in us disclosing all our personal information to online predators and being kidnapped, so while most other kids at school were building friendships outside over AIM, we were excluded. Other parents would admirably fawn over how effectively we were restricted from all electronic socialization, while us kids were completely exhausted by the experience and eventually just learned to circumvent NetNanny.
Telling kids today to stay completely off their phones seems even more futile. There's commenters mystified that kids "can't live without their phones"...Well, what do they learn when they are surrounded by adults who literally depend on their phones to live? How many of us are making plans with our own friends without one?
I had a similar experienced as a kid in the 2000s, though not quite as strict as yours.
My group of school friends would talk in person at school and then hop on a Call of Duty lobby when they got home, or chat on Facebook/SMS. Without internet or a cell phone, I was only present for a small portion of the their conversations and activities. Someone might post something funny or shocking on Facebook and everyone would be talking about it at school the next day. Sometimes people would continue a conversation that had started online the night before, and I had to either sit quietly or ask someone to fill me in (with mixed results). The result of all this is that I never quite formed bonds with that group, I was always on the periphery, the guy who hung out with them at school.
I assume all of that is more intense today than it was circa 2010.
The "keep your kids off social media" advice only works if a lot of other parents do the same, and if you live in an area where kids can easily visit each other in person.
Additional perspective. I was in the loop at school before tech took over. Despite being the type that keeps in touch I’ve mostly lost contact with everyone from high school. Once folks start families etc it’s game over.
Have some good memories but all in all that time could have been spent more productively in hindsight.
Telling kids today to stay completely off their phones seems even more futile. There's commenters mystified that kids "can't live without their phones"...Well, what do they learn when they are surrounded by adults who literally depend on their phones to live? How many of us are making plans with our own friends without one?