"He smashed his phone against the wall when I turned off the Wi-Fi," tweeted the mother of 10-year-old Tom from California.
Her story is no exception.
In 2023, JAMA Pediatrics published data: children who spend more than 2 hours a day with gadgets have 45% higher levels of cortisol (stress hormone) than their peers.
Neuropsychologist Emily Carter offers the following explanation.
"Screens overload the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for self-control. The child literally loses the ability to manage anger."
But how are schools responding? A Florida teacher anonymously admits: “ We don’t allow gadgets to be discussed at parent-teacher conferences – there are too many conflicts .”
Meanwhile, in Japan, where 98% of teenagers have smartphones, cases of school bullying have increased.
Psychiatrist Hiroshi Nakamura said in an interview: “Parents pay for silence with money, and children pay with their psyche.”
An alternative is being offered in Finland: in some areas, “digital holidays” have been introduced since 2024 – a week without gadgets once a quarter.
“After that, my son asked to play football for the first time in a year,” says a father from Helsinki.
But critics like Elon Musk call such measures "retrograde": " Gadgets are the future. We need to teach children, not ban them."
Where is the way out - strict restrictions or total control?
