I am addicted!

To my phone.

I check an email and before I realize it, I’m watching TikTok videos: lions fight hyenas, military dads reunite with kids, athletes do amazing things …

I look up, and an hour has passed.

I’ve wasted time, ignored my family and friends, and accomplished nothing.

But who cares? I’m old. I’ve already achieved what I’m likely to achieve.

Still, what about kids?

“Attention spans are declining,” says psychologist Jonathan Haidt. “Levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm were pretty stable … all of a sudden, the rates go way up, especially for girls.”

His bestselling book (on bestseller lists for more than a year!) blames smartphones.

“Once they get a smartphone … time with friends plunges. One of the best things you can do as a kid is hang out with friends, joke around, have adventures. If your kids went through puberty on a smartphone with social media, they came out different than human beings before that.”

My son, Max, once worked for social media companies. Now he makes his living speaking to students about how phones........

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