Children and teenagers have been experiencing a mental health crisis which spiked in 2012, according to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). Dr. Natalie Zervas, the Director of Counseling at Dana, says that while there were many contributing factors, one of the bigger factors is smartphones, which came out at the same time as this spike.
Why have smartphones contributed so much to this mental health crisis? One of the more prominent factors is dopamine or the feel good chemical in people’s brains. Dr. Zervas says, “when you use something like that [iPhones] your dopamine in your brain fires, before you used to get it from interactions with others, but now it is received artificially”. Now that dopamine is released by being on iPhones it makes it harder to stop using devices and to feel good doing other things. In the end this affects mental health because people going on their phones gives them heightened dopamine, which results in people not being as happy doing other things.
With smartphones also comes social media and more access to information, which is also known to not be good for people’s mental health. Social media overall causes lots of exclusion, and gives teenagers especially the fear of missing out on things. As well as this, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy believes social media should have warning labels similar to cigarettes. In a June 2024 New York Times article, Murthy writes, “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms”. In the summer 2023, kids were averaging 4.8 hours on social media platforms. Murthy’s point isn’t to get kids off social media entirely, it is that people should know the risks that come with it.
Another impact of phones is that throughout the day people are notified of news as well, which did not used to happen so much. Although this does not mean there is necessarily more bad news occurring, it just means everyone is constantly alerted of it, making people feel like there are more bad things happening.
However, many things can be done to help with these issues. Dr. Zervas mentioned that the recommended age for kids to get iPhones is eighth grade, and the later the better. Lisa Robbins, the Assistant Director of Middle School at Dana, promotes Wait Until Eighth, an organization that encourages families to delay their children getting phones till eighth grade to keep them safe.
Kids can also help themselves. Leila Alencar ‘28 says, “when I am with my friends, or doing schoolwork I put my phone away or on do not disturb so I can be more focused and in the moment”. By doing this, kids will enjoy time with friends and others more, and will be more focused while doing schoolwork, because they won’t be disturbed by notifications, tempting them to go on social media.