Comprehensive article with links to data about the proliferation of educational technology, and the effects of gamification and screen use in education.

Researchers, doctors, and child development experts have studied what generative AI does to developing brains. Their conclusion: It shouldn’t be anywhere near a classroom, and action should be taken immediately.

This study found, using two different experiments, that the presence of a smartphone, whether face up or face down on a desk, on silent, or powered off entirely, still affected a person’s cognitive capacity. In fact, even putting it away in a backpack, turned off, didn’t help. From the article:

“…suggesting that intuitive “fixes” such as placing one’s phone face down or turning it off are likely futile. However, our data suggest at least one simple solution: separation.”

Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the "Study Act" will let kids learn without distractions and will hold social media companies accountable for the uptick in depression, anxiety and self-harm. "There's no statewide policy. This bill would mandate that every district develop one," Campbell said.

Governor Maura Healey added to a sudden surge on Beacon Hill to rein in technology’s influence on children and teens, unveiling a proposal to restrict the amount of time minors can spend on social media platforms that she and other officials assailed as exploitative and addictive.

Behind Their Screens takes adults on a journey through the hidden lives of teens growing up with social media. The book reveals what teens think, how and why they make the decisions they do, and what they need adults to understand if they are to help teens navigate a tricky landscape.

Free The Anxious Generation was created to motivate and empower teens, parents, educators, policymakers, and tech industry leaders to act collectively to free children and adolescents from a childhood spent largely alone on screens, and instead promote independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world.

A talk given by Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up With Your Phone and founder of Screen/Life Balance, about children, smartphones, and social media. She provides new frameworks for decision-making, runs through the risks that exist for children online and — most importantly — offers practical solutions for parents and families. More information at catherineprice.com and catherineprice.substack.com

Social media use among young people is nearly universal, with up to 95% of teenagers, and even 40% of children aged 8-12, on social media.1,2 Despite this widespread use among children and adolescents, we do not yet have enough evidence to determine if social media use is sufficiently safe for them—especially during adolescence, a particularly vulnerable period of brain development.

Social media is the focus of the US surgeon general’s conversation with JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS. She interviews Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, to discuss the dangers of social media on youth mental health, highlighting its contribution to the epidemic of loneliness.

Having a phone impairs attention and subsequent memory during lectures.

An investigation on the impact of schools banning mobile phones on student test scores; there is an increase in student performance after schools bans mobile phones; these effects are driven by the previously lowest-achieving students.