Device Addiction & Today's Youth

I risk sounding super old when I pontificate about how sad it is for kids to be growing up with handheld technology. While I love it myself, I experienced an entirely different kind of childhood. There's been an increase of studies on the topic, and the findings are pretty darn frightening and not all that surprising.

Perhaps the person who has done the most work in this field is Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University. In his research, he’s found that if there’s a phone around—even if it’s someone else’s phone—its presence tends to make people anxious and perform more poorly on tasks. These effects, he’s found, become more acute among heavy users, those people checking their email and social media every 15 minutes or walking around with their hand tucked snugly around their phone. In a 2014 study, Rosen separated college students from their phones. “The heavy users, 10 minutes in they’re already anxious and their anxiety kept going up and up,” he says. “And who are the heavy users? They’re the young people.”

Honestly, while I myself love technology and the convenience of Waze, texting, and staying in contact with people all over the world - I really worry for these kids. I already had my time growing up device free – and it was way calmer and more connected than life is for youth these days. My greatest wish is for parents and schools to give (or force) kids the chance to unplug and connect – with people, with nature, and most importantly – with their own thoughts and emotions. It's a fight worth fighting - for their own good.