Saving Our Children from Digital Destruction: A Call to Action
Today, we face an unprecedented challenge: the digital world, while full of potential, is quietly but powerfully eroding the mental, emotional, and moral health of our young people. As a clinical psychologist who has worked with teenagers for over 15 years, I can say with conviction—there is no greater threat to our children's flourishing today than toxic screen use.
What Changed?
Around 2009 and 2010, something shifted. Happiness among teenagers plummeted. Depression, anxiety, self-harm, and even hospitalization rates skyrocketed—especially among girls. The common denominator? The explosion of smartphone use and social media.
Unlike past technologies like radio or television, smartphones and social media were rapidly adopted worldwide especially among young people. Today, many teens spend 40 hours or more per week online, often "always connected," being shaped more by digital algorithms than by their families, communities, or faith traditions.
Why Screens are So Dangerous
Not all screens are bad—technology can be an incredible tool when used wisely. But toxic screen use—addictive video games, constant smartphone access, and endless social media scrolling—has three major effects:
Chemical Changes: Overstimulation floods the brain with dopamine, leading to dependency, distraction, and a weakened ability to focus.
Physical Changes: Prolonged screen time activates the brain's fight-or-flight response, increasing anxiety, depression, and isolation.
Behavioral Changes: Irritability, withdrawal from real-life relationships, tantrums, emotional instability, and diminished resilience.
The adolescent brain, still under construction until age 25, is uniquely vulnerable. It needs real-life social interactions, creative play, physical activity, and executive functioning practice to grow properly. Instead, our kids are being trapped in a virtual world that rewards impulsivity and superficial connections.
How to Build Healthy Brains
We must intentionally replace toxic digital habits with life-giving ones:
Prioritize face-to-face interactions.
Encourage outdoor play, exercise, and hobbies.
Promote reading physical books instead of scrolling.
Model and teach self-regulation, flexibility, and perseverance.
Foster strong family bonds through shared meals, conversations, and activities.
Building executive functioning skills—planning ahead, managing emotions, delaying gratification—equips children for adulthood. In contrast, constant screen time leaves them unprepared, immature, and deeply unhappy.
Practical Solutions for Parents
No smartphones for children or teens. Period. Parents think technology is a complicated topic. It’s not. It’s really simple. Don’t give your child a smartphone and you will have protected them from the greatest evils they will likely face. Also, beware of so-called dumb phones which offer unfiltered internet access.
Find alternatives to video games and social media. These industries are designed to addict, not to educate or uplift.
Create real community by encouraging in-person friendships and participation in wholesome activities.
Model healthy leisure by cultivating hobbies, reading, exercising, praying, and simply spending time together.
Remember: simplicity is strength. You are not obligated to give your child a smartphone "because everyone else has one." Strong parenting means leading—not following the culture.
Facing Common Objections
Many parents fear that their children will be "left out" without a smartphone or social media. But research shows the opposite: greater digital engagement leads to more loneliness, depression, and social withdrawal—not less.
Other parents believe their children will somehow "learn to use technology responsibly" by early exposure. Yet virtue precedes good use—not the other way around. Giving an immature teen a smartphone is like handing him a stack of pornographic magazines and saying, “Just leave that under your bed, and please don’t look at them.”
Finally, parents may feel guilty if they themselves struggle with tech use. While it's important to strive for integrity, your child's well-being must come first. Even if you're not perfect, you still have a duty to protect your children.
The Path Forward
We must recognize that choosing to raise children differently is countercultural—and that's exactly the point. To be Christian is to be different. If we blend in completely with a sick society, something has gone terribly wrong.
Building resilient, virtuous families demands strong parenting:
Loving, but firm authority.
Willingness to allow children to suffer small disappointments now to spare them major (and perhaps eternal) suffering later.
Commitment to forming communities that support real-life relationships over digital addiction.
We cannot delegate our parental responsibilities to schools, tech companies, or legislators. God has entrusted these souls to us.
Final Encouragement
It is not too late. You don't have to be perfect—you just have to start. Set clear boundaries. Eliminate toxic screen use. Fill your home with real love, real conversation, real leisure.
Your children might resist at first. They might accuse you of being "weird" or "mean." But over time, they will thank you. And even more importantly, they will thrive—emotionally, spiritually, and morally.
Choose life. Choose health. Choose to raise a generation that knows how to live free from digital chains.
