If you skipped the homepage video, please go back and spend the time. You will learn that Big Tech is deliberately structuring the phones to be addictive just as Big Tobacco eventually had to publicly admit manipulating nicotine levels to addict its customers.

My first choice for a resource would be Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 powerful book The Anxious Generation: https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/

Another can be found at  https://www.screenstrong.com. I met founder Melanie Hempe at one of her presentations, she is the real deal as you will learn should you read her story. Her Resource tab is a wealth of solid suggestions. Here’s the opener on her “About” tab:

“From your son’s video game to your daughter’s smartphone obsession, screens are stealing childhoods. ScreenStrong does not advocate living totally screen free. We believe in keeping the benefits of technology for kids while empowering parents to delay toxic tech—video games, smartphones, social media, pornography. We educate parents on the medical science behind childhood screen use in order to focus on healthy hobbies and family connections. To be ScreenStrong is to make a countercultural choice to move your child’s entertainment and social life from the online world back to the real in-person world.”  

Another excellent resource is Harris’ own site at https://www.tristanharris.com. Once there and having read his homepage story, I suggest clicking on Center for Humane Technology.    His entire site is worth your time to gain deeper insight into the big picture.    Among many things you’ll find is the ability to watch a 2020 movie entitled “The Social Dilemma” that delves into the mechanics of how we are ALL targeted by social media tech companies.  There is great detail as to exactly how it’s done – with children being the easiest targets of course. The movie is also available on Netflix at this time – get a month’s subscription if you need one to view it, no big deal. You may well feel overwhelmed by the amount of information presented. I suggest the adults in charge view it first while the kids are away or asleep, take some time to digest it before then viewing a second time as a family. Remember, no problem can be fixed unless it is first recognized as one – here is the opportunity to do it together with your children.

I also encourage you to get and read a seriously important book about the impact of social media and smartphones  entitled Teaching Kids to Think…..raising confident, independent, and thoughtful children in an age of Instant Gratification authors Sweetland and Stolberg. It is written by a husband/wife team that totally gets the big picture and communicates their observations and suggestions beautifully.    All the dots will be further connected for you in plainspeak.       

The above will keep you busy for a good while if you are just beginning your education on what I believe to be THE most important issue of our generation. It is worth every minute you can give to it. 

John