This week, we ran a post covering a new public policy brief from the Institute for Family Studies and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The brief conclusively demonstrated the tangible harms involved in exposing kids to the online world before they’re ready. The researchers concluded, in addition, that parents should not give their children digital devices. The stakes are too high, from increased risk of mental health disorders to learning impairments.

Such warnings have been increasing over the past few years, thanks in large part to the in-depth research of people like Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge. The Atlantic published an article today on how smartphones are hurting kids’ cognitive and learning capacities. Derek Thompson writes,

Researchers such as Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge have shown that various measures of student well-being began a sharp decline around 2012 throughout the West, just as smartphones and social media emerged as the attentional centerpiece of teenage life. Some have even suggested that smartphone use is so corrosive, it’s systematically reducing student achievement. I hadn’t quite believed that last argument — until now.

-Derek Thompson, Are Phones Making the World’s Students Dumber? – The Atlantic

The article is unfortunately behind a paywall, but the gist is that major publications are recognizing the problem and are furthermore calling the authorities to action. The only question is: are we listening? Articles like these appear every few months, often from the likes of Haidt and Twenge, and stir up some notice. However, we’ve still got a long way to go in addressing the tech and mental health catastrophe among youth (and smartphone users in general). Researcher and author Anthony Bradley of the Acton Institute shared the Mind Matters article on the public policy brief on X and captioned it:

Are these warnings a waste? 1) Psych data: it’s 100% foolish to give kids cell phones with social media apps. Parents are still doing it anyway. 2) Psych data: dads drive teen faith & mental health. Churches still don’t program for child/father connection.

While public policy measures and banning phones in schools can help, Bradley reminds that it’s incumbent on families to intervene on behalf of their kids, particularly fathers.