Tucker Carlson has had it with smartphones. Giving vent to some frustrations about the pocket-sized computers that have shortened attention spans worldwide on his show Thursday night, Carlson didn’t just complain about the distracting effect that they have at family gatherings.
The Fox pundit called for Congress to ban the use of smartphones for children to protect them from serious mental health risks, which include suicidal depression and lowered cognitive ability.
Carlson slams smartphones
Carlson said that smartphones offer “the sum total of the world’s knowledge” in a pocket-sized computer, but he expressed his usual complaints about smartphones, saying that they have destroyed society’s “capacity to concentrate for very long.” Carlson said that “the cost of this progress has been high,” including “endemic loneliness, arising suicide [rates], [and] a country where huge groups of people hate each other.”
Carlson then turned to the harmful impact of excessive device use on kids, noting that the average teenager uses smartphones for nine hours a day. He cited studies which showed that hours of screen time lowered kids’ test scores, delayed their cognitive development, and caused depression.
“Smartphones have made our kids dumber. It’s measurable. But they’ve also made our kids much less happy.”
Carlson also touched on another common criticism of social media, namely, that Facebook and Instagram have made people lonelier and more isolated rather than connecting them. Critics of social media use often say that it encourages a feeling of “missing out” and lowered self-esteem. Carlson cited several studies which showed that hours spent scrolling through Facebook made people more depressed and envious of others.
“It’s not surprising, then, rates of mental illness and suicide among teens began to surge around 2012. That’s just as smartphones and social media became universal. You probably didn’t need a study to know all of this. If you’re a parent it’s obvious. Smartphone use makes your kids sadder, slower, and more isolated, and over time can kill them.”
Carlson went on to note that many Big Tech executives and developers impose limits on their own childrens’ use of devices and social media because they understand its dangerous and “addictive” effects.
Calls for federal ban
Carlson said that it’s now indisputable that smartphones have damaging impacts on mental health and that it’s difficult for parents to take control of the technology invading their home life.
“The question is what are we going to do about it? Most parents will do nothing. Not because they don’t want what’s best for kids; they do, but because in real life it’s just too difficult. Try taking an iPhone away from a seventh-grader. You learn a lot about what addiction means. It’s like trying to get a junkie into rehab. You cannot do it alone.”
Carlson compared smartphones to cigarettes and suggested that Congress introduce federal regulation to combat their harmful effects on children. “Parents need help, and there is no reason that Congress, which made smartphones possible in the first place, shouldn’t be part of the solution,” he said.
“So here’s an idea: ban smartphone use for children, pass a federal law tomorrow. Why wouldn’t we do that? An addictive product that science has determined gravely harms kid? Sound familiar? Once upon a time people actually argued against age limits for cigarette sales. It’s hard to remember exactly what their arguments were. They seem so mindless and embarrassing now.”
Many conservatives will rightly be wary of looking to the government for the solution to social media addiction. But considering the documented risks to our children, it’s at least worth exploring the options.
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