We were the children who grew up with social media, and we were the children who spent the nights away with our faces illuminated by our handheld corner of paradise.
The cell phone — conduit for the Internet — is still the provider of it all: streams of entertainment on endless platforms, an illusion of constant connectivity, and a never-ending bombardment of the next new thing feeding into our brains.
How could we resist when we had the entire world itself in the palm of our hand?
This carefully crafted paradise is no accident. Social media platforms — perfected over the years by companies to systematically consume our attention and time in the name of advertisement revenue — are the gateway drug of choice for the younger generation. Our minds were the product on sale, and they were lucrative.
The cascading mental health impacts of social media technology have long been documented.
According to a 2025 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teens with higher non-schoolwork screen use were more likely to experience depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as have low social and emotional support.
The overuse of social media has also been linked to a larger pandemic of isolation in young adults across the U.S.
Now, with the rise of AI chatbots like character.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek and an endless diaspora of others, the stakes have grown higher.
As more and more young people seek out chatbots for emotional connection, AI hallucinations and spirals have led to real consequences. For instance, according to a 2024 report by The New York Times, a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after conversations with a chatbot on the platform.
There have also been documented cases of “AI psychosis,” where chatbots encourage delusions with their users and create a false reality. In fact, in the same year, Futurism reported that a man was hospitalized for psychosis after interacting with ChatGPT.
According to a 2025 Pew Research Center article, 64% of teens say they use chatbots, and three in 10 say they use them regularly. As this tech is adopted more widely by our current generation of teenagers, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine how more and more youth, especially as young children under the age of 13, grow up in an environment where AI is the norm.
Similarly, according to a 2026 article by The Week, by the age of 13, sexual or romantic roleplay is the dominant topic that is discussed between the kids and the chatbots.
The Week also mentioned a similar report by Aura, which states that by the age of 11, 44% of conversations with chatbots contained violence.
As is often the case with laws, the guardrails against unregulated technologies are slow to arrive.
AI is becoming more entwined in our daily lives, and more and more people will also be exposed to the associated risks in the coming years if precautions and limitations are not set in place.
The problem with AI use among children has already seeped into the younger generations through their education at an early age, and through the commercialization of smart phones and smart watches.
Palo Verde Elementary School 5th-grade teacher Carrie May says she noticed that her students are acclimated to technology now, that they are more focused, for instance, when she uses short video snippets to bolster concepts in lessons, which is often more effective in getting students to listen and pay attention.
“They do tend to be more engaged when you incorporate media into your lessons,” May said. “It’s such a normal part of their life now.”
According to May, younger elementary students have more trouble paying attention with class activities.
“It’s a bit harder for them to focus on things when there’s no technology present, because technology can be so engaging for students, especially for younger students.”
In light of recent controversies over limiting cell phone use on school campuses within the Palo Alto Unified School District, May said she has seen a rise in the use of smart devices among her 5th-grade students, as well as among younger students.
Because of recent trends, she has implemented a no-smartwatch policy to keep students on task.
“So many kids have smart watches, like Apple watches and similar, and absolutely have phones,” May said. “It became very apparent to me how distracting it was for students to have those devices.”
Similarly, Palo Alto High School junior Katya Kuykendall said that childhood experiences and interactions have changed from her generation.
“[I would] go to a playground with some friends, and I would see some … little kids on their iPads, like in a circle of friends, just like on their iPads playing, and I think that’s really different than what my childhood was like,” Kyukendall said.
According to Darlene Denis-Friske, a registered psychotherapist with the College of Ontario, this constant flow of “connection” can be overwhelming and exhausting for children exposed to it 24-7, changing the inherent meaning of having a meaningful childhood in the traditional sense of connecting with people physically rather than through an online chat.
We recognize the increased radius of connectivity that comes with chatting online, and a constant online presence is harmful for the child and detrimental to their growth.
A report by John Hopkins Medicine found that social media use is linked to higher rates of depression, as these platforms increase social isolation and decrease sleep, leading to anxiety and stress.
“I think the increase of internet connectivity with young children has definitely kind of changed the role of innocence in childhood, because they’re more connected with things that are like brain rot,” Kyukendall said.
But what can we do? Limiting screen time overall sounds effective at first glance, but according to a 2021 peer-reviewed study published in Clinical Psychology Review, screen time in itself is not the main issue — instead, mental health is far more dependent on the screen content and activity.
Furthermore, both children and adolescents use technology (and, by extension, the wider internet) for practical and social purposes — including schoolwork and connecting with friends — which means going cold turkey is not feasible.
While there isn’t a clear-cut solution, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents and caregivers have open conversations with their children regarding screen use as a family — specifically, using the 5Cs framework to create a Family Media Plan.
This framework structures these important conversions and helps family members understand the child’s personal motivation for using social media, what Content is drawing their attention, how to develop healthy coping strategies to calm down instead of turning to technology, and what social media is crowding out in their lives — all crucial aspects that need to be communicated clearly and transparently.
One thing is clear: Parents need to have these conversations with their children sooner rather than later to set healthy boundaries with digital media use before children are exposed to its harmful effects. Instead of letting technology run both parental guidance and our children’s lives, it’s time for us all to take control and set our own norms.
