It is becoming increasingly evident that smartphones—and the social media that comes with them—are resulting in alarming rates of depression and other detrimental behaviors among teenagers and young adults.
And as a society, we are all paying the price.
A recent study, tracking over 100,000 between the ages of 18-24 who received smartphones before age 13 found they had much higher rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, aggression, and emotional struggles, with girls especially affected, with 48% of those who received smartphone at ages 5-6 reporting suicidal thoughts.
This study comes on the heels of another one last year from the National Center for Health Statistics that shows that teens spending four or more hours each day on screen time are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. Half the teenagers between the ages of 12-17 spend that much time daily.
And, as we have seen over the past several years, such anxiety and depression have led to aggressive behaviors in boys and increased emotional problems for girls, with devastating results not just for them, but for our society.
But the problems with smartphones go beyond depression. Increasing evidence shows that teenagers are using their phones and other electronic devices to access or participate in online sexual interactions.
A recent report by Thorn on Youth Perspectives on Online Safety found that more than 1 in 3 minors reported having an online sexual interaction, with more than 1 in 4 reporting it being with someone they believed to be an adult.
Last year, the platforms where most minors had an online sexual experience were Facebook (14%), Instagram (13%), Messenger (13%). All three of these platforms are owned by Meta.
Despite the public apology from Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg at last year’s high-profile Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to parents whose children had suffered harm (sometimes fatal) on Meta, in the words of Meta whistleblower Cayce Savage at another hearing: “Meta has promised it would change … Meta has changed, for the worse.”
And as Tessa Johnson at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation points out, Meta’s promises to protect children are seemingly nothing more than fool’s gold.
According to NCOSE, Meta seemingly refused to remove a group chat “providing pornographic and naked photos of underage girls.” The NCOSE blog also reports that when a Meta child safety expert strongly expressed his opinion against moving forward with end-to-end encryption (which Meta rolled out in 2023) on youth accounts because it would provide increased protection to child predators, he was removed from his role.
Meanwhile, Meta has allegedly spent $90 million to block meaningful legislation that would protect children from online harm.
According to Reuters, an internal Meta Platforms document allegedly shows that children were permitted to engage with the company’s AI creations to “engage in conversations that are romantic and sensual.” After that report, Meta removed those portions, but only after Reuters published the information.
Thus, is it any surprise that the result of these actions (or inaction) would result in increased online bullying, body image issues for girls, and overall depression in teens … especially those who spend much of their day on their smartphones?
It has become impossible to participate in society without a smartphone. But as parents, we need to be vigilant and use discernment about when it is best to introduce a smartphone into a child’s life, the time our children spend on their phones and what they can access on them.
Noted San Diego State researcher and author Jean Twenge provides her 13-year-old daughter with a phone with no internet and limited apps. Her now-18-year-old daughter had a basic flip phone until she was 16 ½, despite pressure from her peers to get a smartphone.
Twenge states: “Having concrete rules that are reasonably strict is usually the way to go.” She adds, “My kids have not had any troubles socially. In many studies, teens who do not use social media at all are the least likely to be depressed.”
It is time that parents have those hard conversations with their preteens and teens and make those tough choices to ditch the lure of smartphones until they can handle them as a tool instead of as an addiction. And we also need to hold social media platforms and tech companies accountable for their actions which just fuel that addiction and depression.
Our teens, and our society, will be healthier, as a result.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
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