Summary: The shift to smartphone-based childhood is linked to mental health challenges in young people due to increased online social interactions and exposure to addictive platforms. Research suggests that excessive screen time and social media use can contribute to negative impacts on adolescent development and well-being. Implementing restrictions on smartphone use and social media access before a certain age may help improve youth mental health outcomes.
But the change in childhood accelerated in the early 2010s, when an already independence-deprived generation was lured into a new virtual universe that seemed safe to parents but in fact is more dangerous, in many respects, than the physical world. (View Highlight)
