What The Tech: The difference in kids with smartphones vs. those without
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Technology Reporter
In Greystones, Ireland, kids get their first smartphones when they enter secondary school -what we call
seventh grade, when the kids are about 13 years old.
So the question we wanted to look at is can you tell a difference in the kids who grew up with a phone and those who didn’t.
At Temple Carrig Secondary School, chaplain Josh Barrington says the signs are hard to miss.
“The more they’re on the screen, the less they sleep. And the less they sleep, the more we have
mental health problems,” says Barrington.
He says anxiety and stress have spiked right alongside smartphone use. Beginning in 2008, the
same year the first iPhone was introduced.
“I don’t think it’s a debate anymore. It used to be people questioning, now you cannot have the
argument,” says Barrington.
The first generation of students, whose parents signed up for the no-phone initiative, are now in
secondary school. Teacher Susan Kyne Andrews says the difference is easy to spot.
“They are far more creative, far more childlike, and full of wonder and curiosity,” says Andrews.
Some of the others were clued in to trends and memes and silly stuff. While these kids were still reading books and being normal kids.
Primary school teacher Alizia Gisler says, she saw the change as soon as parents agreed to wait and the phones disappeared. Most importantly, grades improved.
“Oh absolutely. Yeah, well they were tired. They were late going to bed and then early up. And
then that was their main focus, the phone as opposed to their schoolwork,” says Gisler.
1973 When it takes a village started, it was common to see 9 year-olds accessing the internet on a smartphone. And that age was trending younger.
Now in it’s third year, the age is trending older as many students voluntarily putting off the internet on a smartphone until well after they enter secondary school.
