Is there a middle way on children and smartphones? This researcher thinks so

The debate on children’s use of smartphones can veer towards two extremes. There are those who see a generation made fragile by technology. They point to studies showing that social media does not just correlate with poor mental health; it causes it. The other extreme sees this as another misguided moral panic, such as the one once aimed at video games. But there are possibilities for nuance and compromise. Sonia Livingstone is a social psychologist who leads research at the London School of Economics into children’s digital lives. Livingstone’s research has led her to focus on two points. One is to try to constrain the tech companies whose “business model is driving the competitive search for children’s attention in a way that disempowers parents or teachers or anyone else”. Livingstone’s other focus is to look for ways to empower young people and parents.