Ideas

What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones

Children who were raised on screens need more freedom out in the real world.

First published in The Atlantic on August 4, 2025

by Lenore Skenazy, Zach Rausch, and Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic
August 7, 2025 | reading time: 6 Min.

One common explanation for why children spend so much of their free time on screens goes like this: Smartphones and social-media platforms are addicting them. Kids stare at their devices and socialize online instead of in person because that’s what tech has trained them to want.

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