This morning we spoke about how childhoods have changed during the last 20 years. How have smartphones – especifically social media – impacted children and young people? We tried to figure out which age group or generation was potentially effected most by smartphone and social media use and abuse.
Below is a collection of links that deal with these questions. See also Jonathan Haidt’s book ‘The Anxious Generation”.
Jonathan Haidt: How screens stole childhood — and how to get it back | TED Talk
Jonathan Haidt: TED Talks Daily Book Club: The Anxious Generation | TED Talk
The Silent Epidemic: How Smartphones Are Destroying Childhood as We Know It | by Loganathan | Medium
Meta social media addiction trial to begin as Instagram and Facebook could be forced to change
A ‘quiet revolution’: Why young people are ditching social media
More than words: the real-life impact of reading – Oxford University Press
Opinion | I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I. – The New York Times
Rick Beato on music bubbles and loss of commonality
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We had already started discussing these questions last year and again beginning of the year 2026 – here my post from March 27th, relocated:
Yesterday (March 27th) in one of my classes, we discussed the landmark trial reported by the New York Times (see links below – I don’t know how high the NYTimes paywall is, maybe you can read one or two). Major part of our discussion was the question of how social media and digital devices are addictive. Fact seems to be that teenage unhappiness and depression, and even suicide rates have been rising (especially in the US). How much of this can be blamed on digital tech use or are other factors just as important when it comes to the well-being of young people? As a spokewoman for the accused tech companies said: Teenage troubles are complex and cannot be blamed on the companies sued.
The questions that came up partly attacked the heart of free market capitalism: Should everybody be allowed to sell whatever they want to for profit, disregarding the effects these products might have on buyers/users? Isn’t everyone responsible for their own fate i.e. what they buy, how much they consume, how they handle whatever is on the market. Or should a community represented by a government regulate to protect consumers from potentially harmful products?
The Social Media Addiction Trials: What to Know – The New York Times Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial – The New York Times
A variety of sources deal with rising concerns of how smartphone use – especially extensive time spent on social media – is harming children and teenagers:
Smartphones and Kids: Massive Evidence of Harm
Instagram and YouTube owners built ‘addiction machines’, trial told
Jonathan Haidt Brings New Evidence to the Battle Against Social Media – The New York Times
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The list of questions asked in relation to smartphones is long and does not only concern children and teenagers. It ranges from neurological aspects, e.g. how does excessive smartphone use change our brains, to socio-political issues, e.g. how anonymous agents of all kinds try to manipulate users via the internet for various reasons and interests.
Psychologists ask how digital devices and media influence our psychological and mental well-being, and there are concerns over detrimental impacts of digital behaviour on relationships, not least on the relationships between parents and their infants whose language development depends on spoken interaction that they do not get if Mommy and Daddy are staring at their phone screens.
Many topics are not restricted to young people, though younger people and kids are more likely than adults to spend hours following social media like tic toc and instagram. Manipulation, rising distrust of institutions, cyber bullying and cyber crime can effect all users.
Changes in our ability to concentrate, changed reading habits, increased cases of mental problems like depression, a rise of suicide rates among teenagers and even the increase in bodies being crushed and damaged by immense overweight can all be linked to digital activities.
Screens and adolescents: How phones broke children’s brains
Autopilot: What ChatGPT Does to Your Mind (And You Don’t Realize It)
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Some countries have decided to ban smartphones from schools in an attempt to protect school kids from their assumed detrimental effects.
This is what happened after New Zealand banned phones in schools
These are most recent sources. However, already around the 2010s, employees of tech companies started realizing the damaging effects technology they had helped develop was having.
Some of them were now in their early 30ies, had kids of their own and were observing first hand what the digital devices and little applications developed to keep people hooked to their screens was doing to their own children.
Tristan Harris is one of them. In 2017 he shared his experiences and thoughts in a TED talk:
Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day | TED Talk
In 2016, computer scientist Cal Newport also gave a TED talk:
Cal Newport: Why you should quit social media | TED Talk
In addition to them, you find more and more voices pointing out how important ‘old’ skills of reading and writing (yourself, using a pen or pencil) is for our mental development and well-being:
Why handwriting still matters in the digital age | National Geographic
More than words: the real-life impact of reading – Oxford University Press
We often speak about our reading habits: what we read, what we read in the past, if our parents read to us and if they still do, have our reading habits changed and if yes how.
A book I recommend in this context is:
