The current state of technology marks a turning point unlike anything we’ve seen before. Social media and gambling, integrated in video games and apps, have been creating new forms of addiction for years. Now, artificial intelligence is making the addictiveness of these systems much more potent, shaping how young people think, behave and grow up. 

For years, parents’ concerns about the harmful impacts of technology on our kids were often dismissed by tech executives and their companies as moral panic. That gaslighting has now been debunked over and over again. A growing body of research shows clear and measurable impacts on children’s mental health. 

Studies have found that higher social media use is associated with increased depression in kids over time, and other research shows that children spending more than two hours a day on social platforms face significantly higher risks of anxiety and depression. In fact, 45% of teens now say they spend too much time on social media, and many — especially girls — report negative effects on sleep, confidence and mental health. Excessive use has also been linked to poor sleep, emotional distress and even self-harm and suicide.

These outcomes are not accidental. Increasingly, evidence shows that the technology is intentionally designed to addict kids. These tech corporations have admitted, in their own internal emails, that the longer they capture kids’ attention, the more money they make through ad revenue or active gambling. And,........

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