🌊 Are We Past Peak Smartphone?

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By Max Towey

It’s been a particularly bleak news cycle lately: Economic anxiety, wars, high-stakes political battles. Part of this is unavoidable – the news is often inherently negative – but we still want to highlight positive news stories whenever we can. Last week, that led us to ask readers of The Current, our free daily newsletter, this question: What is something that is going well in America? What’s moving in the right direction?

The Roca audience’s answers to this question were fascinating and wide-ranging. Erica from San Diego wrote, “The most positive trend in the US today has got to be the rise of sobriety. Americans are finally realizing just how harmful alcohol is and that no amount is good for you.” 

And Jennifer from Maryland wrote: “Reducing the amount of jobs that require a college education. I have never understood why a clerk at a court requires a degree.” 

Taylor from Washington was more specific: “The resurgence of physical music media. Vinyl record collecting is near or above all time highs.”

Yet one theme emerged more than others: A crackdown on children’s access to smartphones. 

Suzanna from South Carolina wrote: “The banning of cell phones in schools is definitely a step in the right direction. Kids don't need phones at school. They are a distraction, and only encourage social media addiction further.” 

And Jamie from Virginia concluded his email: “Simple solution, don't smoke crack! (or give kids smartphones).” 

You don’t have to be Jonathan Haidt to know that smartphones, tablets, AI, and social media can harm kids. It’s a rarity to go to a restaurant and not see a kid sucked into an iPad or meet a teacher who doesn’t bemoan the proliferation of ChatGPT in schools. While we can debate whether these fears are a moral panic, awareness of the risks posed by this tech is growing – particularly in schools. But is that leading to change?

In today’s deep-dive, we examine that question: Are schools banning smartphones and tablets? If so, why? And is it helping? 

Before discussing the policies of states and schools across the country, let’s first examine the data about kids’ screentime and the research into its allegedly harmful effects.

According to a 2025 Common Sense Media census, children ages 0 to 8 average about 2.5 hours per day on screens. Kids under 2 record an average of 1 hour and 3 minutes daily; kids 2-4 record 2 hours and 8 minutes daily; and kids 5-8 average 3+ hours, per a Motherly report synthesizing 2025 data. 

And for teens, it’s significantly worse.

Editor’s Note

We’re curious to hear your thoughts on today’s story – particularly parents and educators. Should kids have access to phones? When’s the best age to give a kid a phone? Is it possible to actually get phones away from kids? Let us know by replying to this email. 

We hope you all had great weekends. We had a lot of positive feedback from this weekend’s stories, particularly our profile of J6er Daniel Christmann and our (free-to-read) report from Flint. If you missed ‘em, give ‘em a read. Find those and more below.

• Inside America’s Forgotten City

• Portrait of a J6er

• Notes from the Roca Office

• The Ghislaine Transcript: Part 2

• The Ghislaine Transcript: Part 1

See you all tomorrow. 
–Max and Max