Smartphones and the Coming Mental Health Crisis

What are cell phones doing to our kids? See "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" by psychologist Jean Twenge (San Diego State University).

Twenge calls those born between 1995 and 2012 "iGen." "Members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet." 

Here are some quotes. See the entire article for more.

Today's teens are on the brink 

of a mental health catastrophe. 

Twenge writes:

"Some generational changes are positive, some are negative, and many are both. More comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party, today’s teens are physically safer than teens have ever been. They’re markedly less likely to get into a car accident and, having less of a taste for alcohol than their predecessors, are less susceptible to drinking’s attendant ills.

Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones." (Emphasis mine.)

Smartphones make teens seriously unhappy.

"There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy."

"Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time than average on nonscreen activities are more likely to be happy. 

There’s not a single exception. All screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness."

Smartphones are related to the increase 

in teen loneliness and depression.

"When teens spend more time on smartphones and less time on in-person social interactions, loneliness is more common.
So is depression. Once again, the effect of screen activities is unmistakable: The more time teens spend looking at screens, the more likely they are to report symptoms of depression."

Smartphones are related to 

an increase in teen suicides.

"Teens who spend three hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely to have a risk factor for suicide, such as making a suicide plan. (That’s much more than the risk related to, say, watching TV.)" 

Parents should limit teen smartphone use.

"The correlations between depression and smartphone use are strong enough to suggest that more parents should be telling their kids to put down their phone. As the technology writer Nick Bilton has reported, it’s a policy some Silicon Valley executives follow. Even Steve Jobs limited his kids’ use of the devices he brought into the world."

See Twenge's book, 

iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us.