Smartphone Use
Johnathan Haidt, the author of the book “The Anxious Generation” was recently interviewed on NPR.
Below are some highlights:
“Smartphones are not only addictive, but they contribute to low self-esteem and feelings of isolation among kids. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says it’s not too late to undo some of the damage if parents walk back what they allow their kids to access on their phones and delay when they give them smartphones. He lays out how in his new book, “The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness.”
The interviewer, Steve Inskeep, asks if online gaming could be a substitute for the face-to-face, old school play Haidt recommends.
HAIDT: Oh, I’m sure someone would contend it. Many people have contended it. You know, my son plays Fortnite, and I can see it’s really fun. He’s laughing his head off with his friends. But here’s the thing. These platforms give boys what they want, but in a way that actually isn’t as satisfying as if they were actually doing physical sports and, you know, having conflicts with a group of other boys that were real. So, yeah, sure. You know, it’s fun, and they’re interacting with other boys. But what happens to their mental state? They get really lonely. They start agreeing with statements on surveys – I often feel lonely.
And it’s a similar story for the girls. Girls are lured on by the promise of talking to everybody, finding out what everyone’s doing, gossiping about people. You can get instant updates on everyone. And so you’d think that this is like girls’ heaven. But actually, this is girls’ hell – everyone talking about everyone, able to shame or attack anyone anonymously, even on weekends. You can never escape. What happened when girls moved their social lives onto social media platforms was the same as for boys on video platforms. They get really anxious, lonely and depressed.
After conversing about possible avenues of smartphone regulation Inskeep asks: If you make it harder for them to access a few sites, they’re still going to have the phone in their hands. They still might spend hours on it.
HAIDT: What I’m saying is that we are now stuck in a set of collective action problems, and the kids have to be on all the time because all the other kids are on all the time. So I’m suggesting four norms that we can adopt even if Congress never comes to our help. No smartphone before high school. Just give them a flip phone. No social media till 16. Just don’t let your kids open accounts, and you check the apps on their phone. Phone-free schools and far more independence, free play and responsibility in the real world.
So what I’m saying is just delay, delay, delay. Delay the age at which the kids are going to jump into this cesspool. Clear this all out of middle school, then we’ll work on high school. But let’s start by getting it out of elementary and middle school.”
INSKEEP: And do you think that those steps, if widely practiced by large numbers of families, would make a meaningful difference?
HAIDT: Oh, my God. If we could get half or more of the families to adopt these four norms, we would see a drop in rates of anxiety and depression within a year. And I can say this because whenever a school has done one of these, they get results. And then – and here’s the key – you can’t just take away the screens and say, oh, no, kids, you know, screens are bad for you; you know, you have to wait. You have to give them back what they most need and want, which is each other.
Here’s the link to the entire interview for those who may be interested: https://www.