We are at a tipping point.
When we started giving children smartphones loaded with apps and social media, we didn’t realize the negative toll it would have on their health and wellbeing. But alarming research is emerging and the findings resonate across the globe:
Young people’s mental health has plummeted, partly due to misuse and overuse of digital platforms that aren’t designed to support healthy child development.
The nonstop distraction of smartphones and social media has been crowding out essential childhood activities and damaging our kids' wellbeing. As parents, we've been deeply concerned yet also resigned to this "new normal." Then along came Jonathan Haidt with the missing piece: collective action.
Harms of a phone-based childhood
Have you heard or read about the work of Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation? Haidt is sounding the alarm that our kids need us to roll back the phone-based childhood and reclaim childhood in the real world. His message is resonating with so many parents, educators, and childcare professionals because it is clear, reflects compelling research findings, and mirrors what so many of us are experiencing in our own homes. It also fills us with hope that a phone-free childhood is possible.
In his March 2024 book, Haidt outlines four foundational harms of a phone-based childhood:
Social deprivation: time with friends is down 65% since 2010
Sleep deprivation: up sharply since 2013
Attention fragmentation
Behavioral addiction
He also points out the opportunity cost of time: 7-9 hours a day. The hours now spent on phones and social media crowd out essential childhood activities like sleep, exercise, play, reading, and developing real-life skills and competence. These research findings are resonating with parents, educators, and young people. But Haidt doesn't stop there - he also addresses what we can do about it.
A roadmap for collective action
Jonathan Haidt provides an achievable roadmap, suggesting we roll back the phone-based childhood and restore the play-based childhood as a community by focusing on establishing these four norms:
1. No smartphones before high school.
Data show that having “talk and text only” is ok!
2. No social media before age 16.
Especially avoid TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, which are not designed to support healthy development.
3. Phone-free schools. All kids need and deserve these 7 hours to be phone-free. When children are in school, they should be paying attention to their teachers and to each other, not their phones.
4. Much more childhood independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world.
These are norms that we at ScreenSense are 100% behind. In fact, the dream of these has been woven into our work since the beginning. What is so thrilling now is the growing chorus of voices calling for collective course-correction. These new norms may be a big change from where we are now, but frankly, we've been in an impossible situation. Fortunately, the ground has shifted and a promising roadmap has been provided. Now is the time to activate change in your community!
What Next?
We highly recommend reading the Anxious Generation with a group of friends or as a school community to jumpstart the hard but necessary conversations around tech.
Also consider listening to the audiobook in the car with your tweens and teens!
Want to learn more?
READ. The Atlantic article that got everyone talking about The Anxious Generation!
LISTEN. This conversation between with Jonathan Haidt and Dr. Becky (March 2024) is like one you'd have with a friend - the kind that inspires you to change the world! (52 min)
WATCH. (NEW - March 2025) Jonathan Haidt and his team have created a video for parents and teachers that outlines the points of the book, why collective action is the missing link to making change and how to get started with making change in your community. (45 min)
So what now?
The movement to reclaim childhood is developing in real time on the world stage and we are seeing action and discourse popping up everywhere. We at ScreenSense are excited to be part of an incredible network of Aligned Organizations working to activate collective action. There is a groundswell of effort in communities that is inspiring to all of us!
If you’d like to share a one-page summary of Jonathan Haidt’s work, download this PDF (este folleto).
For our local readers in Marin County: join the grassroots “collective action” movement in Marin County.
For our readers in other places: do you want to mobilize collective action in your neck of the woods? Find next steps from this Take Action page on the Anxious Generation website. Or start a conversation by forwarding this webpage and strategizing next steps with friends where you live.
Every school or neighborhood needs someone to initiate the first step towards change - could it be you?
No matter where you are on this bumpy parenting journey (e.g., our ScreenSense team has tweens and teens), we are here for you! Check out our developing services or reach out anytime for the support you need!
Our blog posts are often inspired by our monthly OneStep newsletters. In our email newsletters we give one simple monthly step towards healthier tech use. To get our tips and updates from ScreenSense direct to your inbox - click the ‘Sign up’ button!
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