Clare Morell, an author and policy expert at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, tackles the urgent smartphone dilemma facing families. She reveals how parental controls can’t thwart tech dangers, advocating for a complete tech detox instead. Morell stresses the mental health impacts of excessive screen time, especially in low-income families, while proposing healthier communication alternatives. Her discussion draws parallels with Big Tobacco, pushing for stricter legal measures against tech companies to safeguard children’s well-being in this digital age.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Opt Out of Smartphones Fully
Start by proving to yourself that a total tech exit is possible for your kids, even through teen years.
Focus on fostering real-life relationships and responsibilities instead of giving children smartphones.
insights INSIGHT
Smartphones Are Digital Fentanyl
Smartphones and social media are inherently addictive substances, not just moderate pleasures like sugar.
Parental controls and screen-time limits fail due to the addictive, immersive design of apps like TikTok.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Begin with 30-Day Detox
Start with a 30-day screen detox during low-demand times like summer.
Fill that time with in-person family activities to reset kids' brain and creativity.
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Clare Morell
Clare Morell's "The Tech Exit" offers a comprehensive strategy for parents seeking to reduce their children's dependence on smartphones. The book provides actionable steps for initiating a digital detox and maintaining a low-tech lifestyle. It emphasizes the importance of replacing screen time with real-world activities and responsibilities to foster healthier habits. Morell addresses challenges like withdrawal symptoms and offers solutions for navigating school environments with prevalent screen use. It also highlights the positive impact of reducing screen time, such as improved relationships, creativity, and engagement with the real world.
The Anxious Generation
Jonathan Haidt
In 'The Anxious Generation', Jonathan Haidt examines the sudden decline in the mental health of adolescents starting in the early 2010s. He attributes this decline to the shift from a 'play-based childhood' to a 'phone-based childhood', highlighting mechanisms such as sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, and perfectionism that interfere with children’s social and neurological development. Haidt proposes four simple rules to address this issue: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, phone-free schools, and more opportunities for independence, free play, and responsibility. The book offers a clear call to action for parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments to restore a more humane childhood and end the epidemic of mental illness among youth.
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Author and policy expert Clare Morell joins us to discuss her groundbreaking new book The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones. Drawing on years of research and firsthand accounts, Morell reveals how families have been misled into believing that tech dangers can be “managed” with parental controls—when in fact, the only real solution is a full-scale exit. She lays out a bold but doable roadmap for parents, schools, and communities to reclaim childhood, restore attention spans, and foster healthier human connection in a screen-saturated world.
Watch it on the Undercurrents website: https://unherd.com/undercurrents/
Undercurrents 