Case for Change
Smartphones and social media have serious, negative side effects for adolescents and children.
We have the evidence. Now we need to act.
We have the evidence. Now we need to act.
Dr. Vivek Murthy
US Surgeon General
'The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency and social media has emerged as an important contributor... in an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information. You assess the available facts... and act quickly.'
Smart devices and social media dominate the lives of young people
97% of 12 year-olds now have a smartphone
Ownership of mobile phones increases gradually up to age 8, and by the age of 12, nearly all children have a phone (97%). Despite being below the minimum age requirement (13 for most platforms), 33% of 5 to 7 year-olds and 60% of 8 to 11 year-olds have their own social media profile.
Teens spend on average 4.8 Hours a day on Social Media
'Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.'
Smartphones and social media are highly addictive
The Arab Youth Survey 2023 found that 82% of young people in the GCC struggle to disconnect from social media. Global studies indicate the same – one US study found that across the five most popular social media platforms, around a third of teens use social media ‘almost constantly.’ These findings are due to social media’s ability to activate the brain’s reward centre, by releasing the feel-good chemical, dopamine which keeps users coming back for more.
Smartphones and social media contribute to mental health issues
66% of young people in the GCC say that social media has a negative impact on mental health. International studies indicate that the younger a child acquires a smartphone, the worse their mental health outcomes, with teenage girls being particularly vulnerable. Use does not need to be excessive to be harmful; any regular use can have negative side effects, such as: lower self-esteem, increased anxiety and higher rates of depression.
Smartphones and social media are Eroding attention spans
Smartphones and short forms of media (e.g. TikTok posts) play a critical role in high school students’ decreasing attention spans. A 2019 survey by Common Sense Media found that 8 to 18 year-olds spend 40% of their daily media usage time engaging in multiple activities concurrently. This media multitasking can lead to a decline in performance on tasks that require focused attention. Additionally, a more recent study by Common Sense Media found that teens receive an average of 237 notifications a day on their phones. With the area of their brain responsible for impulse control still developing during adolescence, it is particularly hard for teens to resist the allure of these constant distractions.
Institutions and educators often lack the training and guidance to meaningly integrate technology into education
As schools increasingly adopt educational technology (EdTech), there’s a need for greater transparency, standardisation, and tighter regulation in its selection, training and use.
Effective integration of technology in education involves intentional implementation, teacher training, and alignment with pedagogical goals. As technology rapidly evolves, educators often lack the necessary training to seamlessly incorporate EdTech into their teaching practices. Additionally, the absence of standardised evaluation metrics leaves the effectiveness of many EdTech apps and programs in question. While some tools monitor student behaviour and learning patterns without clear parental consent, others introduce ads, unnecessary gamification of learning and irrelevant content.
To address this, EdTech tools should be supported by rigorous research demonstrating their impact on student outcomes before widespread adoption by institutions. To improve effectiveness and build trust, schools should establish clear policies for integrating EdTech, focus on meaningful programs with well-trained teachers, and offer increased transparency to parents regarding classroom screen time.
Excessive screentime deprives children of the real world, play-based childhood they need
Time spent on screens comes at an opportunity cost, with children increasingly engaging in the digital world instead of in real-world activities that support their developing brains. In his book, “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, discusses how the 'screen-based childhood' is depriving children of essential experiences needed to overcome normal fears and anxieties, such as exploring, testing limits, building friendships through shared adventures, and learning to judge risks independently.
Children and adolescents are missing out on opportunities to connect socially in the real world, with one study showing that by 2019, young people’s time with friends had dropped to just 67 minutes a day, around half of what it had been a decade prior. Indeed, in 2023, the US Surgeon General urged us to evaluate our relationship with technology and ensure that how we interact digitally does not detract from meaningful connection with others.
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