Damour warns against blaming phones alone for teen mental-health distress

What was said

"We want to pay attention to digital technology. We want to pay attention to what it means for young people and their health and their thriving, but we don't want it to dominate the whole picture."

Damour says it is tempting for adults to treat smartphones and social media as the primary driver of rising distress among teenagers, but argues research points to multiple contributing factors. She describes youth mental health as a “pie chart” that includes sleep loss, poverty and discrimination, fears about gun violence and climate, achievement pressure, political polarisation, family mental health, trauma and peer problems such as bullying.