Kate Farina, Be in Touch

Adolescents are in a mental health crisis, with research showing that rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide have more than doubled since 2010. In his 2024 book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt says that smartphones and social media are a big part of the problem. He believes these digital tools and technologies are rewiring childhood from “play-based” to “phone-based”, affecting children’s social and neurological development and sleep patterns. There’s also an increase in addiction, loneliness and perfectionism.

Across the globe, parents and schools are taking note. Cellphones, smartwatches and tablets are now banned for pupils at Dutch primary and secondary schools. In Scotland, head teachers are petitioning government to introduce cellphone bans in schools. And following a “digital pause” experiment at 200 secondary schools in France, the country looks set to ban cellphones at school for pupils under 15.