A new book has engulfed academia in a heated debate over whether and how spending time on smartphones affects young people's mental health.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's Anxious Generation, published last week, argues that the “massive rewiring of childhood” caused by smartphones is causing an “epidemic of mental illness.” He suggests his four ways to combat this. Smartphones are not allowed until high school age, social media is not allowed until the age of 16, and phones are not allowed at school. and prioritize real-world play and independence.
“I call smartphones 'experience blockers,' because once you give a kid a smartphone, it takes away all the time they're not focusing on,” Hite told TODAY.com. ” he added. Childhood in the real world. ”
Phones and social media have become ubiquitous in daily life. But no matter how much researchers study their effects, there are still no easy answers to exactly how these technologies affect the mental health of children and teens.
Haidt's book quickly sparked a wave of support and backlash, including an article in the science journal Nature that accused Haidt of contributing to the “growing hysteria” around social media and unproductive screen time. Viral reviews are also included. To address the “real causes” of depression and anxiety in teens.
“Our generation is in crisis and desperately needs the best that science and evidence-based solutions can offer,” psychologist Candice Odgers writes in a scathing review of the book. There is. “Unfortunately, our time is wasted telling stories that are not supported by research and doing little to support the young people who need and deserve it. yeah.”
Over the past decade, academics and politicians have grown increasingly Concerned About the possibilities The impact of social media and screen time on young people. A Senate hearing in January questioned the CEOs of several major social media companies on a variety of topics related to child safety, including the impact of their platforms on the mental health of young people.
In January, California introduced a bill aimed at protecting children from social media addiction. And last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning children under 14 from participating in social media, taking effect next January.
Last year, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that social media could have a negative impact on the well-being of children and adolescents, following research showing a link between social media use and poor mental health among adolescents. issued recommendations. The report found that up to 95% of young people aged 13 to 17 say they use social media, with more than a third saying they use it “almost all the time.”
Some academics and scientists remain unconvinced that current evidence shows a causal link between social media and poor mental health. Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Stetson University, said he believes the concerns are part of a recurring moral panic driven primarily by older people.
He pointed to a cyclical pattern in which disruptive new technologies, from television to video games to, more recently, generative AI, almost always spark an uproar over their potential harms. He said growing concerns about smartphones started later than for many other companies, and only took shape in the late 2010s.
But you can't push the toothpaste back into the tube. Mr Ferguson said children who use smartphones and social media today will continue to use these technologies into old age, and there is a risk that new and unfamiliar technologies will replace their habits. He said they would now be “panicking.”
“I just think it's like this right now. It's just a matter of getting used to it,” Ferguson said. “For some reason, society always wants to throw a tantrum when something new happens. And eventually, like all tantrums, they subside.”
But researcher Jean Twenge, author of Generations and iGen, says smartphones and social media are at least partially linked to increases in depression, self-harm and loneliness among teens. He said there was a “pretty solid” consensus among academics.
She said she believes this backlash is coming from a small group of academics who suggest screen time and social media are harmless. Unlike Ferguson, Twenge said he believes the skepticism around them will continue to grow over time.
“Critics in this field need to answer one important question,” said Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. “If smartphones and social media aren't to blame for the rise in depression among teens, then what is? Because time and time again, the answers they give are unsupported. .”
Ninety percent of this discussion is basically just a back-and-forth about different studies that have slightly different designs and produce very different results.
Joseph Bak-Coleman, an associate research fellow at Columbia School of Journalism who studies collective decision-making, says part of the reason it's so difficult to study the effects of phone and social media use is because research He said that the problem lies in the inability to completely isolate the subject from the effects. of these technologies.
This is contradictory because even individuals who avoid social media and smartphones live within a network of people who use social media and smartphones, and in a world already shaped by social media and smartphones. He said it will lead to research results.
Buck-Coleman said: “90% of this discussion is Basically, it's just going back and forth on different studies that have slightly different designs and produce completely different results. And we'll all fight together. ”
He said social platforms and regulators have a duty to find ways to protect children and teens, but he doubts it would be a “nightmare” to enforce restrictive protections. In a world where children rely on mobile phones to communicate with their parents and many aspects of their lives take place in the digital realm, measures such as eliminating access to phones completely can be That could cause problems, he said.
Also, the average impact of social media use may differ from the impact on those most at risk of specific harms, so focus on specific concerns rather than trying to identify broad trends. Bakoleman said it could be more valuable to focus on how phone calls affect mental health.
“Rather than asking whether it's a net negative or positive, that's an absurd argument,” he said. “It would be much better if we could ask what the impact is.” Who is it addressed to? And what impact does that have and how can we change it?”