A study shows that suicide rates among teenagers have risen along with their ownership of smartphones and use of social media, suggesting a disturbing link between technology and teen self-harm.
Citing federal data and two nationally representative surveys of more than 500,000 adolescents, researchers found a strong correlation between the time teens began using smartphones a decade ago and a sharp rise in reports of serious mental health issues.
From 2010 to 2015, a record number of teenagers were reporting depressive symptoms and overloading mental health clinics, while suicide rates climbed for the first time in decades, said psychologist Jean Twenge, lead author of the study, which was published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.
“I’ve never seen such sudden, large changes,” Ms. Twenge said in an interview with The Washington Times, noting that the biggest increase occurred within a single year.
“In this case, we tried to just go systematically through possible explanations and rule them in or out and, at the end of the day, the pronounced increase in smartphone ownership seems like the most logical explanation,” she said. “It was by far the largest change in teens lives between 2012 and 2015.”
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4 comments:
I have been a firm believer since the smart phone came out that no child under 15 or 16 has no real need of a "smart phone". You are putting a mini computer into your child's hands with absolutely no oversight of what they access on the internet, a sure fire disaster! A simple phone for calling and texting with some games is all they really NEED!
As if no one saw this coming.
This problem is a lot worse than than this one issue! it has softened people to accept being part of a Godless group! or being left out! it will be easier now when it comes comes time to receive the mark for all of the lost. In a nutshell JC says so.
Cell phones are the worst invention ever created.
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