It could, however, make a social trend for shorter fingernails (primarily on women, I imagine). Just meaning people are more likely to trim their nails shorter.

Agreed for general use, but for people who just replace the entire phone instead of replacing the battery, it will reduce the waste of all the rest of the phone for some time.

One of the ways one can grow out of a fear is by accommodating it enough in a passive way that it’s forgotten about. Lighting up the back of a closet or under a bed for even a couple of months with a battery-powered nightlight (if there is no outlet available) could easily be enough for a kid to overcome it. Not in every situation, of course, but I think in enough that it could be worth a try.

I do agree that changing the entire space like that is too much though.