How Smartphones Are Impacting Young People

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The issue of allowing smart phones in the classroom is being discussed across the country, and the response to this issue is an evolving story. In some cases, restrictions are being chosen by individual school districts and/or through state legislation. This blog is authored by Guest Blogger, Tim Whitaker, Executive Director at Mighty Writers.

Tim Whitaker

The number one book on the NYT nonfiction bestseller list for the last 23 weeks is titled "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness." Bottom-line thesis of author Jonathan Haidt's runaway hit book?

Digital life — particularly the use of smartphones — is making kids deeply, intensely unhappy.

The addiction to smartphones — along with the obsession with Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and all their cybernated brethren — is leading to sleep deprivation, compulsive disorders and mental illness in general. All familiar, especially if you have a young person in your life and have witnessed obsessive digital use up close and personal.

Digital obsession is something we think a lot about at Mighty Writers. We see firsthand how cell phones pull kids away from their instructors, mentors and peers; how a buzzing alert in a pocket can distract a student from caring about what they're thinking or writing.

This month, at the start of the school year, we banned the use of cell phones in our after-school program. It's a small step, one adopted by the Los Angeles school district, but we think a necessary one.

Still, there's a part of us that can grow defensive on behalf of our young Mighty writers: Why pick on the kids? How many times have we grown-ups had an in-person conversation interrupted by a friend who feels it necessary to answer their cell phone — "Excuse me, this will only take a minute"? Or how many of us have picked up our phone to take a quick run through TikTok or Instagram and 45 minutes later find ourselves still scrolling through images and messages that are mostly instantly forgettable?

Digital life has affected us all, kids the most, fair to say, because their minds and viewpoints are still evolving. They need smart, insistent and kind guidance, none of which they're going to find on a screen. Author Haidt calls for societal and policy changes, including delaying smartphone use until high school.

So much to think about.

What goes unsaid is the double whammy of the times we're living in — where threats and assassination attempts are becoming commonplace, where schools have active shooter drills, where immigrants are demonized and unsupervised play for kids has been scrapped in many communities out of generalized fear. It's a lot. For kids, especially, for sure. We're in uncharted territory. It's why we desperately look to change the subject with words that could bring a smile.

MORE ABOUT...

Tim Whitaker began his career teaching fifth and sixth grade in Philadelphia before becoming a writer and editor. He was the editor of Philadelphia Weekly (1994-2008), and previously the editor of PhillySport and Pittsburgh magazines. Whitaker was a head writer at NBC Radio and has written for PBS, The New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer. He was the executive producer of an award-winning audio documentary on the history of soul radio in Philadelphia and the author of the book “Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen.”

Mighty Writers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "teaching kids to think clearly and write with clarity." They offer many writing programs such as Literary Arts Workshops and an Afterschool Academy. They evolved during the COVID pandemic and now offer multiple food distribution centers to low-income neighborhoods. Established in 2009, they serve communities in and around Philadelphia, PA; in Camden, Newark and Atlantic City, NJ; and in El Paso, Texas.

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