Scientists Call for Ban on Social Media and Smartphones Before Age 13
A global, wide-reaching study has revealed that receiving a smartphone, and then using it to access social media, before the age of 13 is directly associated with poor mental health outcomes in young adulthood, specifically among young women. The results are so alarming that the researchers are calling for a global ban on them before a person reaches the age of 13.
The study, which was published on July 20 in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, used data from nearly two million people in 163 countries via The Global Mind Project, making this one of the largest-scale research projects on the subject to date. What the researchers found was harrowing and tied directly to the introduction of smartphones.
“Our data show that for children under 13, smartphone ownership, and in turn access to social media, is associated with increased symptoms and diminished functionings across multiple domains, with potential consequences extending beyond the psychological domain into education, civic participation, and economic opportunities,” the researchers report.
“What’s more, the magnitude is substantial: if current trends for increasingly younger smartphone ownership and social media access continue, projections from this data suggest that this factor alone could be responsible for mental distress such as suicidal thoughts, dissociation from reality, and diminished functionings such as emotional control and resilience in nearly a third of the next generation.”
The researchers say the combination of regular access to online socialization with algorithmically-based machine learning systems that curate and amplify content to maximize engagement is likely disrupting key developmental activities, such as in-person interaction and sleep.
“This algorithmically engineered digital environment that children inhabit, and which smartphones provide an often-unsupervised gateway into, is therefore reshaping the very nature and freedoms of childhood and adolescence, raising fundamental questions about its impact on the human mind and its consequent capabilities and functionings,” the researchers write.
Portions of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, were the first generation to grow up with smartphones and social media present throughout their early lives. Looking at this generation, the researchers found that those who acquired a smartphone before they turned age 13 found their overall mental health and wellbeing to be progressively lower with each younger age of first smartphone ownership.
“These correlations are mediated through several factors, including social media access, cyberbullying, disrupted sleep, and poor family relationships. This trend appears consistently across all global regions with the magnitude greatest in English-speaking nations,” the researchers note.
The issue is so pervasive and equal among all regions studied that the researchers believe the only way to mitigate the problem going forward is to address it similarly to how certain activities, such as smoking, are outright banned until a certain age. The scientists are calling for a ban on smartphone use until at least age 13.
“Based on these findings, we advocate for the adoption of a precautionary principle. We propose the implementation of a developmentally appropriate, society-wide policy approach, similar to those regulating access to alcohol and tobacco, that restricts smartphone and social media access for children under 13, mandates digital literacy education, and enforces corporate accountability. These measures aim to protect the foundational elements of mind health and wellbeing that underpin the capabilities and functionings for human flourishing in future generations.”
While daunting, CNN points out that the results were self-reported and therefore were not independently verified by the researchers. Additionally, the study doesn’t specify which types of smartphone use were the primary drivers of the results, nor was it able to account for how these results might change as technology does.
The full research paper can be read in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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