Tackling the dark side of technology overuse among teenagers

“Ben gets extremely aggressive when I try to take his phone away. I’m so worried about how things will turn out when he’s older and bigger! —Tamara, mother of 13-year-old Ben

A 2023 Pew Research Center report found that 93 percent of 13-17-year-olds use social networksand one third use it constantly. I will never forget my client Matt* who became physically aggressive when Jacqueline, his single mother of two, answered his phone. Matt, who had autism and ADHDstruggled with transitions so it was hard for him to let go of his devices. When forced, he would lash out at his mother in frustration, leaving her helpless. Eventually, the situation escalated and a behavioral intervention specialist was called to the home.

“I can’t lose my phone; I have to finish my streaks!” — Sarina, 14 years old

Today, it seems that everyone is in constant and even hyper communication through their phones, especially teenagerswho often use apps like Snapchat to communicate via messages or “snaps”. According to Common Sense Media (2023), 78 percent of teens check their phones every hour. Many do “streaks” by shooting daily to preserve them, sometimes for thousands of days.

Although such programs are supposedly intended for friendship These streaks, backed up by emojis that measure streak strength, often leave teenagers feeling pressured, fearing that losing streaks could damage their friendships. Some even share passcodes when grounded to avoid mistakes in the shot, considering concern around staying in constant communication.

Parents shared how long it would take their children to get their devices back or ignore the restrictions. 12-year-old Kevin was able to bypass his parents’ bans on playing games while hanging out with his friends while his parents were asleep, unaware of what he was doing. Needless to say, his parents were at their wits end, changing passwords, grounding, and other tactics to help combat this problem.

A few years ago, after hearing from many parents about their children’s attention deficit and wondering if their child really had ADHD, I felt the need to write about the effects of overuse of technology on attention span. In my research, I came across several studies that may help explain how overuse of technology reduces them concentration, memoryand the ability to delay gratification.

And it’s not just social networking apps that worry me. A high school student recently told me that while ChatGPT is allowed as a tool in some classes, many classmates use it freely for homework and research papers. This raises concerns about possible impairment in verbal and quantitative reasoning, executive functioningand self confidence.

In addition to the impact on learning, many of my teenage and teenage clients have admitted to declining self respect while scrolling through social media platforms. Research supports the psychological effects I have observed in my clients, such as reduction motivationfeeling dysphoric depressionand even thoughts about suicide.

According to a large study by Dr. Jean Twenge (2017) that included nationally presented surveys of more than 500,000 teenagers, there was a dramatic increase in teen suicide rates from 2010 to 2015, especially among girls. The study noted a strong correlation between suicide rates and depression with increasing use of smartphones and social media.

Julie Scelfo, a journalist and mother of three, says she “began to notice how these technologies negatively affect the human experience since they first appeared.” Her worries centered around:

1. Cyberbullying

In 2007, 13-year-old Megan Meyer hanged herself in her bedroom closet after being bullied on MySpace. Megan has struggled with ADHD, depression and weight issues. The cyberbullying intensified and she received several disturbing messages from classmates and so-called friends. One such message—“The world would be a better place without you”—came from a boy she thought she liked.

Anti-LGBTQ+ cyberbullying is blamed for the suicides of Nex Benedict, Tyler Clementi, Channing Smith, Nigel Shelby and others. According to the Trevor Project (2021), LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk of being bullied and more than four times more likely to commit suicide compared to heterosexual and cisgender youth.

2. Compulsive use of devices

Christopher “CJ” Dawley, a bright and driven young man, reportedly became obsessed with his phone after joining Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat at the age of 14. In high school, he constantly talked on the phone, stayed up late in chat rooms and shared photos. , which led to sleep deprivation and body image problems, his parents said.

On January 4, 2015, while his family was taking down their Christmas decorations, CJ went up to his room, where he texted a friend “God, hurry” and posted on Facebook “Who turned off the lights” before killing himself with a gun. He still had his bloody phone and left a suicide note on a college admissions envelope. His mother noticed that he continued to post messages even in the last moments of his life.

3. Dangerous educational videos

In August 2020, Anglin Roberts kissed her parents goodnight and went to her room. They soon found her hanged in her bedroom. Unfortunately, she took her own life after allegedly copying a video of a woman faking suicide.

When Scelfo was asked New York Times to report on the rise in teen suicide rates in 2015, she discovered just how problematic social media can be for young people’s mental health. In a 2020 report for HuffPost, she wrote that “suicide is now the second leading cause of death for 10-year-old children in the United StatesShe says that telling these stories as a mother was painful. She came to believe that it is inexcusable that “we adults allow children access to consumer products that are so toxic to their health.” She felt the need to do something about it.

“I spent about two years studying technical reforms and gathering information clutter experts to figure out the best way to make changes.” This led to the creation of Mothers Against Media dependence (MOTHER), the lower parent group. Scelfo believes that media literacy is a vital 21st century skill and recommends a careful, developmental approach to introducing children to technology.

Education and advocacy

Scelfo told me how important it is to make parents aware of what their children are watching on their devices and how it affects their attention span. She believes that children are regularly exposed to content that parents would normally consider inappropriate.

“Like many parents, I looked around and saw that something had changed drastically. Now children spend hours looking at their smartphones instead of talking, laughingplaying, running… I see the joy leaving them, I see how quiet they are even when they are sitting with their friends, just typing with their fingers and flipping through pictures and videos. We all know something is very wrong and as a parent I fear that my girls will be pulled as well and so will their childhood end at too young an age.” – Father

Scelfo believes that the increased use of smartphones is replacing face-to-face interaction, reducing tolerance for boredomand also reduces prosocial and attentive interaction skills. Removing phones from schools, she claims, would provide “a full 7 hours” of phone-free stimulation.

Many parents give their children phones to play with, but they don’t always know what they’re looking at. In some cases, children accidentally came across obscene or violent content. In an interview with Gloria magazine, Scelfo told a story about a boy who “shared videos of corpses and car accidents — even executions.”

It is clear that technology and smartphones have greatly changed our lives. As adults, we need to think carefully about the role we want these devices to play in our lives and the lives of our children. Here are some steps parents can take:

1. Think about your own use and how you might install limits and boundaries for yourself.
2. Listen to your child and learn about the role of technology in his life.
3. Help your child find tech-free time in their life (like classes/play) – I recommend 30-60 minutes after school at least 2-3 times a week outside of homework or meals.

*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.