LobsterJim

This is one single curated list found at the top of a search, the point is that there are plenty of options if you look. Plus demand drives availability. Low demand will certainly entail low availability. Your criteria of needing to be below $200, not rely exclusively on Verizon, and have mass market availability have been pulled out of thin air. You gotta take what you can get to some degree.

Essentially every option in this article is well below $200 for use in the US

There are plenty of flip phones and “dumb” phones available that work on current towers. A simple search provides many examples right off the bat.

There’s tired, and then there’s sleepy. For me, if I’m not sleepy, there’s about a 5% chance I will be able to fall asleep upon going to bed. I remember plenty of nights in high school going to bed “early” around 10pm, and sure enough I’m still awake at 2am. So first off there’s ability to sleep when needed.

Second, the modern perspective contains a lot of blue light in daily lives that prevents melatonin secretion. Few kids have the self control and presence of mind to properly regulate their screen time at night, even if just from TV, not to mention phones.

Realistically just with the second point, the cards are stacked against them.