Screen time limits fall short. Here’s what actually beats smartphone addiction | Clare Morell
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Smartphones and social media are hijacking our younger generation’s childhood and development in a frightening way. Clare Morell, researcher and author of The Tech Exit, is sounding the alarm.
0:00 Hijacking our children’s brains
0:42 Smartphones are hurting our children
2:27 Social reward wiring
3:25 Dopamine deficit
4:00 Desensitization
5:34 A child’s brain on social media
11:32 How to exit tech and give your kids a better life
13:14 Why screen time limits fail
14:52 Tech-free families
16:12 Smart phone and mental health quality
18:08 Dumphones
19:33 Social media and social isolation
24:57 Autism and ADHD and Electronic Screen Syndrome
26:46 How smartphones distract us
28:41 Technoference
31:20 How to free your child from the perils of smartphones
32:16 What to focus on after exiting tech
34:18 Getting your kids’ buy-in
45:18 What is a reasonable age for a smartphone?
57:01 The decline of reading scores
57:57 Reading on screens versus reading on paper
1:01:58 Section 230 law
1:08:55 The pornography epidemic
Read the video transcript ► [Link to site article]?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description
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About Clare Morell:
Clare Morell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) and director of the Technology and Human Flourishing Project. She is the author of The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.
Comments
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@hamsolo_y
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
The problem is not parents' lack of understanding. Problem is for profit corporations which are going to literally suck the life out of anyone if it means "a lot of" profit. The moment parents take the phones out of children's hands, they will find another way or product to do the exact same thing and it will take 10+ years to find out what damage it has done let alone another 10 for you to convince them that it is not good.
@lauriethomas4145
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Watching for a friend.
@knewklear
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
leaving the title to just "screen time limits fall short" would've been a lot better than adding on your next sentence. "here's what actually""? don't be sheep
@aldiris
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
need guverment and laws to stops this mandnes and now would be ai
@engval_
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
The problem is not the phone, it's the parents who can;t be bothered spending time or talking to their children. We need to guide children how to be a functional adult with a phone, set goals to stream their phone obsession into something productive, not take it away. When banning something worked? Australia banned social media for below 16, this initiative only taught children how to use VPN that's all.
It's great that people research and spread that kinda of knowledge, so thank you Ms. Morell, but the solution is just not going to work.
@Yin7094
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
My sister is 14 and addicted to her phone since she got it, and before that, she was addicted to borrowing my mom's phone to play games. And when she would go to her dad's, he wouldn't do any activities with her except play videogames and watch tv, and so she would just spend days scrolling or playing games on a tablet. It just makes me angry to know that this is actively just ruining her childhood and that neither her dad or my mom will do anything about it. It's such a shame and it feels like at her age, it's already too late to fix anyway, but maybe not. In any case, it's not like stuff is going to change magically. On top of that, her stepmom is mentally abusive and quite honestly just plain stupid. I wonder what all of this will amount to when she grows up…
@sohu86x
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Ban social media for kids under 16
@KuzushiPR
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Wow completely useless advice. First step is to find other tech free families lol we (and the kids) already have friends and family and the all use smartphones. The rest are just as useless except educate and exemplify. Nothing much else to do or move to an Amish community.
@AlexSprok
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
23:09 nah, by the time he graduates his skill will be outdated.
@gehteuchnichtsan7911
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Just watch a 1,5h long video on your phone to decrease screentime.
@FarhanSohail-n7h
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to think you simply need to toughen up. Clara Hartley’s anxiety quiz may help you understand that there can be more behind those feelings.
@theloniouswu5090
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
I consider myself part of the very last generation to grow up without this invasive technology, nevertheless as an adult I am addicted. I waste an alarming amount of my life simply observing life through a phone rather than being truly part of it.
I must change.
@ann-marietoney462
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
If only my school bus was quite! lol
@venusavenue1722
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
41:14 I can sense some bullshiting:here. 😅
@venusavenue1722
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
35:18 I partially agree. However, confusing social media with games is a bit weird. I am a fully grown adult, with zero social media in my childhood BUT a very very much addicted child to Super Mario. Afterwards Heroes and CS5.
So… I agree for the most part with and about Social Media. But people have developed quite well by playing computer games in the last 40 decades.
@quantum_ocean
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Why limit the story to kids and teens? This affects adults just as much!
@dj-te5yj
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
I parents who just give their small child a tablet to play with whenever the child is not asleep. They like it because it keeps the kid “busy”. He can’t seem to live without it
@The_Diamond_Guardian
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
9:30 And because we're addicted to it too?
@TuntunKumaar-k6w
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
This deserves a standing ovation.
@kathleendale5981
August 6, 2026 at 12:13 pm
knowing the power of peer pressure I’m skeptical