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A wholistic approach requiring concerted efforts by stakeholders including governments, tech companies, schools, parents and society would be essential.
A new book and a recent documentary examine the role that smartphones and social media play in jeopardising young people’s mental health. In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt delineates how excessive screen time can result in sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction and loneliness. The Netflix documentary titled The Social Dilemma addresses how tech companies have influenced rates of youth depression and looks into how social media algorithms affect behaviour.
Haidt also distinguishes between boys’ and girls’ online addictions. Spurred on by a constant need to check for updates, female teens often react to every trivial comment. In contrast, boys looking to feel a sense of achievement tend to get hooked on gaming.
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