Study links youth smartphone use to health risks
Dr. Marc Siegel reacts to a new study on smartphone risks for children and a CNN host implying that President Trump dozed at a Cabinet meeting. He also previews his new Fox Nation special 'Miracles Among Us,' based on his book.
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It appears that even a prince can’t escape the smartphone struggle.
Prince William — one of the most recognizable figures in the world — recently revealed that keeping smartphones out of the hands of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis has become a "tense issue," sharing in a recent interview that "children can access too much stuff they don’t need to see online." He added that they instead spend time jumping on the trampoline, playing sports and trying to learn musical instruments.
It’s a reminder that no matter one’s status or position, every parent today faces the same challenge: how to protect childhood in the age of constant connection.
The prince is hardly alone in his concerns, admitting it is "really hard" to protect his children from the harms of social media and the digital world. A 2023 Mott Poll Report revealed that overuse of devices and social media ranked as the leading health concern among parents nationwide.
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Prince William, prince of Wales (left), and his son Prince George (right) during the military procession to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 5, 2025, in London. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
Interestingly, some of the world’s top tech leaders — industry titans who helped create the devices and platforms shaping our digital lives — have also kept them away from their kids. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates banned phones at the dinner table and didn’t allow his children to have their own until age 14. Apple’s Steve Jobs famously limited his children’s screen time and denied them unrestricted iPad access. Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki gave her children phones only under controlled circumstances and took them away on vacations. Even billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has said his kids live with strict tech limits.
Ninety-five percent of teens today have access to a smartphone, and nearly half say they’re online "almost constantly." So, what’s all the concern?
Smartphones have fundamentally altered how adolescents interact with the world. Playtime has been replaced by screen time; face-to-face conversations by messaging apps. Eye contact and casual greetings are fading from daily life. Children are accessing devices at younger ages. A 2025 Common Sense Media report found that 51% of children aged 8 and younger have a mobile device, spending nearly two and a half hours a day using screens — and for those aged 5–8, it’s nearly three and a half hours.
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Excessive screen time doesn’t just steal childhood — it harms developing brains and bodies and is linked to sleep disruption, delayed language development, impaired executive functioning and social-emotional difficulties. There are even physical health risks, including obesity and hypertension, driven by sedentary screen habits.
The emotional toll is equally alarming. In "The Anxious Generation," social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explains that the very device meant to connect us has become a driver of disconnection, loneliness, anxiety, and depression — particularly among girls. Constant notifications, online comparison and a perpetual fear of missing out or "FOMO" erode attention, confidence and happiness. Children are "connected" digitally, yet increasingly isolated offline.
And that’s before considering the darker corners of the internet — online predation, sextortion, cyberbullying, child sexual abuse material and AI-generated deepfakes that exploit children in devastating ways.
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Emerging risks continue to surface. Teens, lonelier than ever, are increasingly substituting genuine human connections with AI companions. A staggering 72% of teens have interacted with AI at least once, and nearly a third use these platforms for romantic engagements, emotional support and friendship.
Alarmingly, these AI companions are increasingly implicated in providing explicit sexual role-play, as well as harmful responses and dangerous "advice." Parents have alleged that such interactions have contributed to severe emotional distress, including tragic instances of suicide among their children.
Excessive screen time doesn’t just steal childhood — it harms developing brains and bodies and is linked to sleep disruption, delayed language development, impaired executive functioning and social-emotional difficulties.
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Prince William’s decision reflects what millions of parents are quietly grappling with: how to raise healthy, connected kids safely in a world designed to keep them scrolling. The question is, what do we do about it?
The solution must be collective. Schools are leading the way by banning or limiting smartphones during the day, giving students back the focus and social interaction they’ve lost. Policymakers must demand greater transparency and accountability from tech companies as well as effective age-verification tools.
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Parents, perhaps, have the most critical role to play — setting clear digital boundaries at home, enabling built-in safety settings, monitoring screen time and online activities, and delaying social media or smartphone access until children are ready. If and when you decide to give your child a smartphone, make sure you understand the different types of phones — especially those designed for children and teens — and the safety features each offers. Together, these actions can restore balance, human connection and the kind of childhood that once came naturally to us pre-smartphones and pre-social media.
Let’s give our children the same gift Prince William hopes to give his own children: a childhood grounded not in screens, but in real-world play, imagination and genuine connection.
Kathy Hatem is the senior communications advisor for the national nonprofit organization Enough Is Enough®. As a parent to three teenagers, she leverages her passion for child safety and advocacy to raise awareness about the dangers of child predators, sex trafficking, cyberbullying and more, educating parents, corporations and the government about the online threats faced by children and adolescents.
