Bill Gates worries that children today may lose a key advantage he had. The billionaire credits his successful career, in part, to the freedom and free time he had in his youth to explore the world around him, read and think deeply without more modern distractions like smartphones and social media.
Today’s children spend less time outside, exploring and playing with friends, than previous generations, thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and social media.Â
According to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 best-selling book The Anxiety Generation.
Gates called the book a “must read” for anyone with young people in their lives in a December blog post. He questioned whether he would have developed some of the habits and skills that were “crucial to my success later” if he had grown up in a world where smartphones and social media were everywhere.
“We’re constantly drawn to our devices”
About 95% of American teenagers have regular access to a smartphone today, according to a Pew Research Center study in 2024, up from just 23% in 2011 – and most of them are active on social media.
The result is that more kids spend hours indoors scrolling through addictive apps, leaving far less time for free play and socializing outside the home, says Zach Rausch, lead researcher at Haidt and a scientist at associate at NYU-Stern School of Business.
“There’s so much time being drawn to products that are purposely designed to draw you in and keep you there as long as they can—and that has huge implications,” Rausch says.
In 2023, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned against the mental health risks of young people constantly using social media and smartphones, citing studies showing it can lead to higher rates of anxiety and depression. Haidt and Rausch also point to effects on attention span, with children having difficulty concentrating for long periods of time, whether in school or even when sitting down to read a book.
“We’re constantly being pulled into our devices through notifications [and] There’s a whole world going on in our pockets throughout the school day, which makes it really hard — to stay focused on something,” Rausch says.[It’s] a serious issue that young people, in particular, have grown up never experiencing what it’s like to sit down and pay attention for an extended period of time.”
Social development tends to suffer when children are constantly on a device rather than interacting in person, research has shown.
“Kids are spending a lot less time being with each other, engaging with each other, which is essential for social development,” Rausch says, citing research showing the benefits of free play and in-person interactions. including increased creativity and resilience, too. such as better developed social skills and conflict resolution.Â
“It’s getting a lot harder [develop] these skills as you grow,” he adds. “So what we’re seeing is that kids are taking fewer risks. They feel more socially anxious and it’s generally harder to transition from childhood to adulthood.”
‘4 new norms’ for parents in the digital age
To help today’s youth develop those necessary skills and hopefully address one factor in the teen mental health crisis, Rausch and Haidt advocate “four new norms” that parents should try to make their phones intelligent and social media less present in their children. ‘ daily lives. They are:
1. No smartphones for kids before high school or 14 years old
Haidt and Raush suggest that children only have simple flip phones for texting and calling starting in middle school.
2. No social media before age 16
While most social media platforms set their own minimum age requirements of 13, they can often be bypassed. Public health experts have made it clear that regular use of social media by young people can affect brain development and increase mental health risks.
“Unhindered access [to social media] maybe it should be pushed back as long as possible — certainly, until at least 16,” Dr. Mitch Prinstein, a clinical psychologist who serves as the American Psychological Association’s chief science officer, told CNBC Make It in 2023.
3. Ban smartphones in schools
The school day should focus on “learning and paying attention,” says Rausch. This is only possible if you eliminate the distraction of students who are glued to their devices. This would have the benefit of blocking off a few smartphone-free hours a day, which would promote personal focus and socialization, he argues.
4. More free play and independence for kids of all ages
The refocus on “play-based childhood” can start at school, where Rausch notes that recess periods are getting shorter. “Vacations are critical for children’s development. Let’s extend the break [and] to give more independence during that time,” he says.
Parents can encourage kids to explore phone-free activities that build their independence, Rausch says. It might sound scary, but giving it a nudge can actually be effective, considering that 38% of teens told the Pew Research Center that they believe they spend too much time on their phones.
In 2017, Haidt co-founded an initiative called Let Grow that provides resources such as research on the benefits of unstructured play, along with ideas and “assignments” parents and schools can give children to encourage safe activities and independent without phones. That might mean a single trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients to bake something yourself, Rausch says.
“They go home and do something on their own, without their parents, but with their parents’ permission,” says Rausch. “And what they often find is that this is a tremendous way to help parents, in particular, see that their child is much more capable of doing things out in the real world. That really starts to open doors [and] makes the real world much more engaging and exciting for children.”
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