Jennifer Kingson

Phones at school are "a disaster," said Jonathan Haidt, the prominent social psychologist, making the case for phone-free schools. "Smartphones impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging," says Haidt. Teachers and administrators see "clear links between rising phone addiction and declining mental health, to say nothing of declining academic performance. Back in 2019, Haidt asked school leaders why they couldn't just ban phones during school hours. "They said too many parents would be upset if they could not reach their children during the school day," he said.

As some states try to regulate children's social media use and TikTok emerges as a geopolitical chew toy, a new clearinghouse has emerged for mediating between tech companies and those concerned about their products' impact on kids: the 

The tantalizing prospect of 10G internet service — which would be 10 times faster than today's 1G networks — is starting to take shape, and soon city officials will need to set policy guidelines for this next generation of cable broadband. For now, ubiquitous 1 gigabit internet is "really going to be needed to ensure that the U.S. is at the forefront of global economic growth and opportunity," says Angie Kronenberg of INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks trade association.