You know it and I know it. Smartphones have a negative impact on our daily lives. For most people, it isn’t a question of whether they do or not, but whether the impact is a net negative (more negatives than positives overall). As adults, every day we have to make decisions about the use of technology. There are reminders about our screen time, technology fasts and even cell phone retreats where people pay to go off the grid for a period of time.
Most technology should be evaluated similarly, but no technology is as pervasive as the modern smartphone. It is the gateway to the internet for most people. We have digital assistants, in many cases, powered by Artificial Intelligence. For the majority of society, the first thing they pick up and the last thing they put down each day is their phone.
I’ve been reading about this topic and researching it for over a decade. Early helpful books I read were The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, released in 2010 by Nicholas Carr and What Technology Wants, also in 2010 by Kevin Kelly. Now, in 2024, the definitive book on this topic as it relates to children has been written and it is the first book in this field that I’m ready to recommend to everyone.
Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is applied research. It takes a hypothesis and synthesizes extensive studies by others to present a bullet proof case of the damage smartphones are doing to our children.
Gen Y, the generation entering the workforce today, are the victims of our neglect, and ignorance. This is well documented in the book and the studies he relies on, showing an extreme increase in anxiety and depression in recent years, as noted in the graphs below.
Something devastating happened to children in the early 2010s, derailing the next generation. This book is the author’s attempt to answer that question. This can be a scary book to read, but if you’re a parent, educator, pastor or anyone who works with children and youth, you owe it to yourself and your kids to read or listen to this book.
The book is divided into four parts. The first part is the really bad news. It documents the damage done. As you read, I’m sure you’ll be able to think of people who are dealing with the problems he describes. I knew there was a problem, but I’m somewhat sheltered from understanding just how bad it is by my life abroad. While this isn’t specifically a US problem, the US and UK have some of the best data on the issue. We’ve been exporting technology for years and the author tracks its deployment in a variety of countries, showing how the damage occurred when the widespread exposure came into existence.
Parts two and three are the cause. First, the decline of play-based childhood. This is an issue other researchers are examining in detail and I expect new insights to be appearing that confirm this author’s evaluation. Children need “free play” that is unstructured by adults and technology for healthy psychological development. The advance of technology and the movement towards what they call “Safetyism” has put walls around childhood that rarely leaves them with many opportunities for free play.
Part three is the rise of the phone-based childhood. The author examines the differing impacts on boys and girls and the overall “spiritual degradation” that is happening to all of us as we dive deeper into a phone-based lifestyle. Our brains are rewired by both the technology and those behind it. App developers know how our brains work and both social media and games are designed to manipulate our brains to stay engaged with our phones.
The last section is the most important section. Whether you read the book or not, take serious note of the author’s suggestions, which have great merit. If you look at the suggestions below and think they are unreasonable, please don’t take my word for it. Get a copy of the book and I doubt you’ll still think the same way once you’ve read the entire thing.
Four suggestions for saving the next generation and helping the current generation in their struggles:
- Delay Smartphone and Social Media Use – No smartphone access until high school and no social media until the age of 16. Parents and educators who join together in solidarity have a better chance at encouraging teens and their friends to develop a more healthy toolbox of social skills by avoiding the social media/smartphone trap. I was impressed by the suggestion that we work together to encourage Apple, Google and Microsoft, to integrate an age verification into the phones and operating systems. That way, when the parent gives the child a device, they can mark the age when they register it. Then enforcement of underage access to platforms becomes much simpler.
- Phone-free schools – The author suggests it isn’t enough to have phone-free classrooms. The goal isn’t just to avoid distractions while in class, but to help children and teens learn to relate to one another again. This can only be accomplished if the phones are locked up throughout the school day. Breaks, lunches and recesses can become times for free play again, instead of times where they disconnect from those around them to log into apps and games.
- Increased Independent Play – Without smartphones, it becomes easier to create independent play opportunities. This is more challenging to implement, but the author offers several concrete plans parents or educators could choose to carry out.
- More Responsibility in the Real World – Kids need to learn responsibility, and growing responsibility as they pass through stages of childhood. Chores and volunteering are some examples, but the author also gives helpful household experiences a parent could use to help their children develop their internal locus of control.
Whether you agree with all of these measures, we all should be open to making improvements in these areas. Our children’s mental health and future as members of society are at stake. It is irresponsible to kick the bucket down the road. The adults of today, whether they be Gen-X or Millennials, have the power to change the destiny of the next generation. We didn’t grow up with a device in our hands and we can help ensure that our children have a healthier future.
Note: In just the last few weeks, almost to perfectly coincide with the release of this book, the state of Florida has signed into law a social media ban that seems to take to heart many of this author’s suggestions. I was aware of the ban before I read the book and after reading it; I believe it is the right kind of top down response, but is not the best solution. Better solutions will be organized on a more grass-roots level by parents and educators. If both of these things happen, it will be even better for the health of our kids.
Seeing God 