Exploring the Impact of Smartphones on Childhood

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The Context: Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and professor at New York University whose new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, is out and causing more people to pay attention to what the research shows about the impact of technology’s dangers on Gen Z. [NOTE: Haidt states: “This book tells the story of what happened to the generation born after 1995, popularly known as Gen Z, the generation that follows the millennials (born 1981 to 1995). Some marketers tell us that Gen Z ends with the birth year 2010 or so, and they offer the name Gen Alpha for the children born after that, but I don’t think that Gen Z—the anxious generation—will have an end date until we change the conditions of childhood that are making young people so anxious” (page 5).]

Why It Matters: It’s essential for kids growing up in the digital age to have a healthy childhood. To address the negative impacts of phone-based childhood, Haidt asserts that smartphone access should be postponed until the beginning of high school, and access to social media platforms should be delayed until the age of 16, while advocating for phone-free schools. Furthermore, he emphasizes restoring play-based childhood by providing children and adolescents increased opportunities for independence, free play, and responsibility. Finally, Haidt suggests replacing screen time with real-world experiences involving friends and independent activities, transforming device limitations into a gateway to new possibilities.

As a Consultant: I believe in the power of technology because it can do everything from providing digital accessibility tools for striving writers to design tools for publication. I’ve written about it and have recorded podcast episodes about technology’s role in the writing classroom. I also believe in the power of paper, handwriting, and writer’s notebooks. While I applaud schools for providing devices to kids, I often wonder if the technology could interfere with task completion due to the child’s tech skills. Plus, I am concerned about how much time kids spend on tablets during the school day.

By the Numbers: Haidt’s book is organized into four parts, with the first part focusing on research. It presents compelling evidence of a crisis in adolescent mental health. In the United States, there has been a significant increase in rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide since the early 2010s. These concerning mental health trends are not limited to the United States but also affect affluent, secular nations. Haidt’s data, which you can view by clicking here, suggests a correlation between the rise in mental health disorders and the advent of smartphones. While I knew about the general harm that has come about from kids having access to smartphones and social media, I found the research he presented jaw-dropping. While Haidt permits sharing the graphs he used in his book published in an online supplement, there are too many compelling ones to paste into this blog post. You might want to peruse the online supplement and then return to read the rest of this post. 

How We Got Here: In the book’s second part, Haidt provides the backstory on the decline of play-based childhood that began in the 1980s and intensified in the 1990s. (We’ve written about the importance of play through the years here on TWTBlog.) Part three of the book explains how the significant rewiring occurred with the rise of the phone-based childhood that began in the early 2010s. Chapter five lays out the four basic harms that have arisen from a phone-based childhood, which are social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. In chapters six and seven, the research points to social media having a more significant impact on girls, whereas virtual worlds (e.g., gaming, pornography) have a more considerable effect on boys. Given the rise of smartphones, social media, gaming, pornography, and more happen on the smartphone that resides in an adolescent’s pocket.

A Big Shift: Early on in the book, Haidt shares four new norms he believes will help kids who have been under-protected online. On page 15, he writes:

Nonetheless, there are four reforms that are so important, and in which I have such a high degree of confidence, that I’m going to call them foundational. They would provide a foundation for healthier childhood in the digital age. They are: 

• No smartphones before high school. Parents should delay children’s entry into round-the-clock internet access by giving only basic phones (phones with limited apps and no internet browser) before ninth grade (roughly age 14). 
• No social media before 16. Let kids get through the most vulnerable period of brain development before connecting them to a firehose of social comparison and algorithmically chosen influencers. 
• Phone-free schools. In all schools from elementary through high school, students should store their phones, smartwatches, and any other personal devices that can send or receive texts in phone lockers or locked pouches during the school day. That is the only way to free up their attention for each other and for their teachers. 
• Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence. That’s the way children naturally develop social skills, overcome anxiety, and become self-governing young adults.

Throughout part four of the book, Haidt provides steps that tech companies, governments, educators, and parents can take to combat the mental illness epidemic and give kids back the childhood they deserve. I spent the most time taking notes in this section since I’m meeting with a friend (who has a child in my son’s grade) this week to discuss this book. We want to get other parents on board with not giving kids smartphones before high school since there’s strength in numbers. 

Bottom Line: As elementary and middle school educators, we must pay attention to Haidt’s findings about handheld technology to ensure a healthy childhood for children in the digital age. 

What’s Next: Many teachers are frustrated by the disruptions smartphones and social media have caused in their classrooms. Haidt suggests advocating for phone-free schools (something many of us have strong opinions about). Near the end of his book, he states:

If you’re a teacher and you’re fed up with the social chaos and learning disruption caused by smartphones and social media, link up. Talk to your fellow teachers and urge your school’s leadership to reconsider not just the policy on phones, but on all devices that let students text each other or check social media while they are sitting in your class. You shouldn’t have to compete for your students’ attention with the entire internet. See if your school can coordinate a message to parents asking them to support change. If teachers speak with a unified voice and ask parents for help educating their children, the odds of success are high. (page 292)

Go Deeper:

• Center for Humane Technology
• Child Mind Institute
• Common Sense
• Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluated by Jessica Grose
• Haight’s online resources:
  • After Babel (newsletter)
  • Notes and Figures from The Anxious Generation
  • The Anxious Generation (website)
• Screen Strong
• Wait Until 8th