Published June 2, 2025
It’s hardly a shocking idea among parents that smartphones and social media have been highly detrimental to kids. Many families fear they are driving a crisis of loneliness, anxiety and depression among teens, along with more severe outcomes including suicides from sextortion, eating disorders from dangerous dieting advice, and deepfake pornography and other child sexual exploitation online.
Books warning about these trends have dominated bestseller lists and encouraged new policies limiting phones in school. Yet it remains extremely difficult for concerned parents to stand against the strong current of screens into childhood. Giving a smartphone to a teen feels like an inevitability. All their friends have them. Schools and extracurricular activities require certain apps. No parent wants their child to be ostracized or disadvantaged. They worry about reaching them in emergencies.
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Clare Morell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where she directs EPPC’s Technology and Human Flourishing Project. Prior to joining EPPC, Ms. Morell worked in both the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice, as well as in the private and non-profit sectors.
