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Michael Gentle's avatar

There’s no doubting the harmful effects on children due to the loss of independence and unsupervised outdoor play (point #6), as I point out at length in my book “Life Before the Internet”.

But this cannot be separated from smartphones and social media, and here’s why.

Before the arrival of the iPhone in 2007, the internet was just a tool. You had to go and find a computer, sit down in front of it and log on. And when you were done, you left and got on with the rest of your life.

This advent of smartphones completely upended this reality by putting the internet in one’s pocket. We now no longer had to go and find a computer, sit down in front of it and log on. We just had to pull our phone out of our pocket. Suddenly, the internet spilled over into our previous everyday activities and changed our lives forever. The idle time we used to spend playing outside, socializing and reading, soon gave way to social media. And the rest is history.

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Francesca Fartaj's avatar

Brilliant and helpful. Appreciate the “dialogue” between Gray’s work and your own.

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