Cats are cute :D

What mobile phones and social media are doing to our children’s inner worlds.

In this reflective piece, we explore how mobile phones and social media are shaping children’s inner lives—and what small, meaningful steps we can take as caregivers, educators, and communities.

It starts small. A quiet moment at home. A child sits, a phone in hand. Eyes locked, thumb scrolling. A reel plays, then another. Laughter, dance, beauty, chaos—all in seconds. In the corner of the room, we watch. Perhaps with a mild sense of relief. They’re quiet. Occupied. Safe.

But beneath the stillness, something shifts.

It is like giving a child a bicycle on a slope—with no brakes. There’s joy in the ride, yes. But there’s also speed, and no real way to stop.

The Quiet Takeover

We talk so much about screen time. But rarely about germination time—that quiet, slow work of growing up. Building patience, attention, empathy, and the art of being okay in one’s own skin. Social media and mobile phones, while magical in their way, tug hard at these delicate roots. And more often than not, they win. Children, with their forming selves, absorb this world differently. What we scroll past, they internalize. What we laugh at, they compare themselves to. What seems like a harmless app can, over time, leave behind subtle, but deep scars—poor sleep, fragile self-worth, mounting anxiety. In May 2023, the American Psychological Association finally said it out loud: young people need protection online. Not just from graphic content, but from platforms that subtly reshape how they see themselves and others. Social media holds up a mirror—but not a true one. It reflects a polished world where beauty is mistaken for perfection, where flaws are edited out and joy is always posed. In such a world, children slowly begin to forget that real beauty is lived-in, imperfect, and deeply human. At the same time, every like begins to feel like love, and the line between fleeting attention and lasting worth starts to blur. Over time, these quiet distortions can take root unseen, but intensely felt, quietly dimming their light.

The School Dilemma

And then, there’s school. Once a space of lunchboxes and lined notebooks, it now buzzes quietly with notifications under desks. New York’s Governor, Kathy Hochul, has proposed a bold step—restricting mobile phones during school hours. A way to reclaim presence. To let children be with each other, uninterrupted. The state has even set aside funds to support this shift. But will a phone ban fix it all? Not quite. A recent study found little measurable difference in student well-being between schools that ban phones and those that don’t. Because phones aren’t just in schools—they’re in our kitchens, beds, pockets, and moments of boredom. The challenge is not just regulation. It’s relationship.

A Lesson from the Past

There’s a story from the early 20th century that feels oddly relevant. When World War I broke out, the railway systems— meticulously timetabled to transport soldiers—became too rigid to pause. Once the trains started, they couldn’t be stopped. And so, the war accelerated. A reflection from Gapingvoid draws a quiet line between that moment and our digital world today. Our children, once caught in these digital rhythms—short videos, constant likes, endless scrolls—can feel swept along. Not with malice, but with momentum. And it’s hard to hit pause.

What Can We Do?

We begin simply. We talk. Not in lectures, but in wondering

questions:

• “What made you smile today online?”

• “Did something you saw bother you?”

• “Can we follow someone new together—someone kind,

• someone real?”

We notice our own habits. We make space for boredom. We model rest. We teach—not just how to use a phone—but how to step away from it.

A Gentle Closing

In the end, we cannot bubble-wrap the world. But we can be buffers—soft, listening, present. We can remember that growing up well requires more than being safe. It requires being seen. And sometimes, the greatest gift we can offer our children is not a better device—but a deeper connection.

We’d love to hear how you’re creating screen-smart spaces in your home or school. Share your thoughts with us, or write to us at [your contact email].

References

• American Psychological Association (2023). APA

• Recommendations on Social Media Use

• Gapingvoid. (n.d.). How Railroad Timetables Started World War

• One

• AP News. (2024). New York’s School Phone Ban Proposal

• The Lancet Regional Health – Europe (2023). Study on phone

• bans and student well-being.