Smartphone, welcome to politics. With anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues on the rise, especially among our youth, many U.S. policymakers are blaming the addiction to iPhones and other devices.Jonathan Haidt's recent book, The Anxious Generation, unpacks the childhood mental health crisis and reaches the conclusion that parents must limit their kids' smartphone usage.
America's younger generations are now more likely to self-report a negative technological impact on mental health, with 60 percent of young adults wishing they spent less time using devices.Even the notion of cutting back can be anxiety-inducing. Despite recognition of technology's many pitfalls, over half of young adults are worried about growing addicted to their smartphone, with the average American spending nearly five hours a day on their phone .