The numbers don’t lie: Let’s put away our cell phones | Opinion

Welcome to the political world, smartphones. Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues are on the rise, especially among young people, and many US policymakers (rightly) blame our addiction to iPhones and other devices.

Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, Anxious Generationhas uncovered a children’s mental health crisis and concluded that parents must limit their children’s smartphone use. Inspired by Haidt’s work, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill to raise the age for social media use from 13 to 16. Meanwhile, New York state is moving to restrict certain social media algorithms, such as automated feeds and late-night notifications, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called for social media to come with warning labels.

This is just a reaction from the U.S. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has proposed banning smartphones for children under 11 and social media for those under 15.

But Haidt and her supporters have faced criticism recently, and not just from tech companies with incentives to preserve the status quo. reason While criticising moves to increase regulation of social media, some academics and scientists do not believe there is a causal link between technological dominance and poor mental health.

So what’s the truth? If there’s any hard evidence, it’s U.S. public opinion — what Americans actually think about devices like smartphones. And if you believe what the public is saying, smartphone troubles are a lot worse than we thought.

It’s not new that parents are worried about their kids’ obsession with Instagram photos and YouTube videos. A recent Harris Poll survey found that 84% of U.S. adults are concerned about the impact social media is having on today’s young people’s mental health. Nearly nine in ten parents (88%) believe young people are too dependent on technology, and more than two-thirds (68%) think smartphones shouldn’t be allowed in schools.

But this is just a Baby Boomer “hot take” and it’s newsworthy. Even young Americans are concerned about the negative effects of technology and are skeptical of whether they can curb modern impulses like clicking, scrolling, and swiping. More than three-quarters (76%) of young people claim that their generation is too dependent on technology. Young Americans are also more likely to report that technology is negatively impacting their mental health, with 60% of young people wishing they could spend less time on devices.

The very idea of ​​saving money can be anxiety-provoking. Despite recognizing the many pitfalls of technology, more than half of young people worry about becoming addicted to their smartphones, with the average American using their phone for nearly five hours a day (Gen Z uses it for over six hours). This is compounded by the fact that technology is now seen as essential for communication: Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Americans under the age of 30 agree that technology has changed the way people socialize. In Haidt’s words, society has been “rewired,” and childhood in the 21st century looks very different from childhood in the 1990s.

As for next steps, it’s pretty clear that all of us (not just Gen Z) are spending so much time on our phones that we’re missing out on many of the joys of non-virtual life. I can’t stress this enough: get away from your phone (myself included).

Fortunately, there are a variety of policy proposals currently under consideration at the federal, state, and local levels, many of which are common sense. It’s hard to argue with Haidt’s guidance to seek out new opportunities to immerse our kids in stable, real-world communities rather than online networks, which have been proven to be more “connected” and “satisfying.”

Fixing the flaws in your golf swing at the driving range is more fulfilling than playing EA Sports PGA Tour. Chatting with a good friend by the campfire is more rewarding than scrolling through Twitter/X for three hours straight. Taking up a new hobby, be it jiu-jitsu, crafts, or just reading a book, is always a worthwhile endeavor. As a parent (and, yes, I was once a child), these are indisputable facts.

What’s also becoming less and less debatable is that technology may actually hinder, rather than help, child development and adult social interactions. As more research emerges, it’s impossible to dismiss today’s mental health crisis as mere coincidence. The polls don’t lie: Americans are deeply concerned.

America needs to take serious action when it comes to smartphones. Every proposal, from personal responsibility and parental supervision to federal legislation, should be on the table. Inaction is not acceptable.

Will Johnson The CEO Harris Pollis the world’s leading opinion polling, market research and strategy firm.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.