Every era of parenting has its challenges, and in the modern age, most families would agree that digital access and screen time are the most constant sources of frustration.
Young people, especially those entering and in early high school years, are so geared towards devices that life without them is unfathomable.
Their parents, on the other hand, remember their own childhoods as a time of face-to-face connection, pen-and-paper schoolwork, and phones that were attached to the wall.
This juxtaposition - especially for parents not au fait with the technology their children are handling with ease - has the potential to create relationship chasms without strong lines of communication.
And it's communication that is needed as families navigate both the decision about when to allow a child to have a phone, and the impact of social media restrictions coming into effect across Australia on 10 December.
The world-leading social media laws are aimed at keeping young people safe online and reducing the enormous influence their devices and tech companies can have on them, with experts recommending that 16 is the earliest age they should have access to these platforms.
Wangaratta High School principal Dave Armstrong draws on a career's worth of knowledge when he says the same age is optimal for young people to have a phone which enables more than texting and calling.
The impending changes to social media laws in Australia, then, are a great launching pad for discussion around the dinner table about aligning the possession of a smartphone and access to social media.
Our kids' future depends on strong and empathetic communication around this tough issue.
