Coping with Phone Addiction in Kids

Not just a distraction at school, phones also impact mental health

Managing screens at school can be a challenge.

A new California law seeks to prohibit “addictive content” from being served to children during school hours via cell phone apps.

Of course, there are all sorts of problems with implementation and enforcement.

But, the passage of this law points to an uncomfortable reality: cell phone addiction is a “new normal.”

We expect kids to be addicted to their phones, and are now entering the phase of attempting to “manage” that addiction.

Last year, Gallup found that over half of U.S. teens ages 13-19 spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media. Female teens spend an average of 5.3 each day on social media compared to the 4.4 hours average of teen males. A Common Sense Media Study found that 97% of kids 11 through 17 years old use their phones at school. The most popular usage among teenagers is TikTok at 32%, YouTube at 26%, and gaming at 17%.

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