Smartphones Cause Depression in Teens

Did you know that iGen kids – those born between 1995-2012 — are suffering from depression in record numbers?  Yup.  Not surprisingly, the blame goes to smartphones. 

According to Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, teens don’t have enough face-to-face interaction with friends because they’re consumed by social media on their smartphones. This means that they don’t have the social benefits of reading one another’s emotions and giving personal support that teens really need.

What surprises me is that teens today are physically safer than previous generations.  They drink less, start driving later, and hold off on having sex. I guess that makes sense when you’re interacting with a smartphone and not with other teens.

While being physically safe may make parents feel like they have better control over their teens, parents need to monitor and limit their teens’ smartphone and internet usage to encourage kids to just be kids.  When’s the last time teens went out to play together?

My advice: set blocks of time where smartphones are turned OFF each day to force teens to break their addiction to the internet and to engage with people.  They’ll never do this on their own and it’s up to parents to give them this much-needed break in cyberspace.

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