Chris, your arguments are solid and personally I don’t need data because 1) I’m convinced that our problems today are way bigger than smartphones because that is what my common sense tells me and 2) I know how hard these things are to measure so any data would probably suck anyways. However, when you say there is no evidence, I think it’s important to distinguish evidence that shows that cellphones are not bad for kids vs. absence of evidence, meaning that we don’t have anything yet.
Thank you for the comment! At this juncture we actually do have quite a number of studies. While far from perfect (indeed I've criticized particularly the experimental evidence!) they do not point to smartphones as responsible for teen mental health or attention problems in schools.
Chris, your arguments are solid and personally I don’t need data because 1) I’m convinced that our problems today are way bigger than smartphones because that is what my common sense tells me and 2) I know how hard these things are to measure so any data would probably suck anyways. However, when you say there is no evidence, I think it’s important to distinguish evidence that shows that cellphones are not bad for kids vs. absence of evidence, meaning that we don’t have anything yet.
Thank you for the comment! At this juncture we actually do have quite a number of studies. While far from perfect (indeed I've criticized particularly the experimental evidence!) they do not point to smartphones as responsible for teen mental health or attention problems in schools.