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Young People Don’t Like their Phone-Based Lives

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Young People Don’t Like their Phone-Based Lives

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Haidt argues that the adolescents themselves don't appreciate the era of smartphones. He says, "With all the talk of
regulating social media, raising age limits, and getting phones out of schools,
you might expect to nd many members of Gen Z writing and speaking out

in opposition. I’ve looked for such arguments and found hardly any." He shows how the adolescents themselves don't want to use the smartphones and social media but are so addicted to it that they don't feel like they have a choice. Following that, he argues how social media further instigates their insecurities through the influencers online who show their 'perfect life' through social media which in reality is not so perfect but the adolescents brain does not register that and results in increasing the insecurities in their life.

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Counter Argument made by Haidt: "Generations are not monolithic, of course. Many young people are flourishing." Even though he does not often expands on his counterarguments, through this counter argument, Haidt specifies how even though generation change, technology changes, time changes, the way people grow up changes but the most important factor the new generation is lacking in is mental health. And the reason for that is smartphones. He explains, "Gen Z is in poor mental health and is
lagging behind previous generations on many important metrics. And if a generation is doing poorly––if it is more anxious and depressed and is starting families, careers, and important companies at a substantially lower rate than previous generations––then the sociological and economic consequences will be profound for the entire society." The reason is not only the life changed because social media and things inside the smartphones but also the lack of connection to their parents, friends, etc., because of being stuck in the fake reality for a long time.

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The High Cost of a Phone-Based Childhood

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The High Cost of a Phone-Based Childhood

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"In Walden, his 1854 reaction on simple living, Henry David Thoreau wrote,“The cost of a thing is the amount of ... life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” The hidden cost of smartphones is time. The loss of childhood, the loss of experiences, the loss of learning by struggling to achieve daily life tasks. Haidt also asks the question: "how much of life is exchanged for all this screen time?" and he follows it with the answer, "Arguably, most of it. Everything else in an adolescent’s day must get squeezed down or eliminated entirely to make room for the vast amount of content that is consumed, and for the hundreds of “friends,” “followers, and other network connections". Most of the lives of adolescents Is now online and they are losing the experience of the real world. They are losing so much time online that they are more involved in the fake reality than the real world.

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Techno-optimism and the Birth of the Phone-Based Childhood

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Techno-optimism and the Birth of the Phone-Based Childhood

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The increase in the technology in 2010s from silicon valley in the west coast with apple resulted in a rapid increase in easily accessible technology. This resulted in parents providing their children with technology as a fascinating object. As Haidt describes, "If computers and the internet were the vanguards of progress, and if young people––widely referred to as “digital natives”––were going to live their lives entwined with these technologies, then why not give them a head start?". To make sure their children didn't fall behind, the parents fell into the trap of providing their children with early access to technology.

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The virtual world of technology began in the 1990s and continued to develop until 2000s where people started to get more familiar with technology. By 2003, Haidt states, "55 percent of American households had a computer with (slow) internet access." Even though this did not result in a mental health epidemic, Haidt uses facts from 2000s and 2010s to show how it was not until 2013-2015 when technology started to become an issue for adolescents. Haidt states, "The extraordinary synergy among these innovations was what powered the second technological wave. In 2011, only 23 percent of teens had a smartphone. By 2015, that number had risen to 73 percent, and a quarter of teens said they were online “almost constantly”.

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The child's brain grows 90% by the age of 6 which shows how early access to technology would affect the circuiting of neurons in the brain. Following that, Haidt shows how the early stages of puberty help a kid learn things way quicker and grasp more things about the real world than when they are older. He uses an example to show this: "Japanese children who spent a few years in California in the 1970s came to feel “American” in their identity and ways of interacting only if they attended American schools for a few years between ages 9 and 15".

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Haidt argues that technology and smartphones have led to a decline in independence and childhood among teenagers and kids. He explains how Teenagers have become so lost in the fake reality that they are not ready for the real world once they become adults. Haidt contends that this "phone-based childhood" has replaced essential activities such as unsupervised play, in-person social interactions, and opportunities for risk-taking, all of which are crucial for healthy development.

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Depression - Haidt used a strong word for sadness which is often a mental condition to depict the negative significance of smartphones on adolescents' mental health

Mental health - The unintentional target of smartphones which the parents and guardians cannot often see.

Virality - The increase in technology resulted in news being spread around more quicker so a new piece of technology gets viral really quickly and way easier to access them.

Addiction - The author used it to show this generation's strong attraction to smartphones.

Systematically Depriving - Shows how smartphones have laid a platform which has slowly become so addicting that it is changing the lifestyle of adolescents (taking away their freedom of certain experiences).

Independence - One of the things that adolescents are losing due to being lost in the fake reality.

Cultural apprenticeship - Kids learn from media than their own cultural norms such as learning from influencers than gaining experiences in real life.

Risk Aversion - Really important impact that has resulted in less learning in adolescents and not letting them be ready for the real world.

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Depression - Extreme sadness because of an incident in someone's life.

Mental health - Well Being.

Virality - Circulation of a news or trend rapidly.

Addiction - An object or feeling someone cannot live without.

Systematically Depriving - Intentionally or unintentionally denying experiences and rights.

Independence - Freedom of doing what you want and having room to make mistakes and learn.

Cultural apprenticeship - a place where you learn from others based on your roots.

Risk Aversion - tendency to take less risks.

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In the last decade, the increase in technology has benefitted the human race so significantly that we tend to ignore its downsides. The impact smartphones have had on adolescents has created a lot of problems for them which parents and the upcoming generation might realize when it's too late.