Moral Panic or Just Reality? Navigating Phones and Kids in 2024

Hey Cave Dwellers!

Jenny and Greg Swan are back, and this time, we're diving headfirst into the moral panic surrounding kids and phones. Remember pagers? Landlines? Ah, the good ol' days before TikTok… or were they?

We talk about parenting in 2024, the fearmongering around cell phones in schools, and how history loves to repeat itself. The internet is absolutely a dumpster fire sometimes, but it's also the place where millions of people find connection, purpose, and belonging. 🌍

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Moral panic is nothing new (paging Marilyn Manson fans).

• We weren’t exactly thriving without phones growing up—so why do we think taking them away from kids would be the single solution to such complicated challenges?

• Instead of asking if phones are bad, we should focus on teaching kids how to thrive in a digital world.

Listen now and decide for yourself. We promise it’s a heady ride full of hot takes and maybe a rant or two about the new prince of the internet… but we’ll leave that as a surprise. 😏

See you on the internet!

🚀 Jenny & Greg Swan

🎧 Listen to this episode on Apple & Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow The Cave Project on Instagram!

📲 The Meme Greg Read Aloud

via Silence, Brand!

😱 The Taylor Lorenz Video We Reference

via

Taylor Lorenz

📚 Recommended Reading:

• Slate: Every Generation Is the Anxious Generation

• Taylor Lorenz: The panic over kids and smartphones has gone too far

• Reason: The Bad Science Behind Jonathan Haidt's Call to Regulate Social Media

• Vox: iPad kids speak up

• Platformer: Inside the debate over The Anxious Generation

• Vox: What the evidence really says about social media’s impact on teens’ mental health

• Power User Podcast: Is social media destroying kids mental health?

• Nature: The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.

🎙️ The Cave Project Archives

If you’re just joining us, welcome! We’re on Season 2 of The Cave Project — a movement exploring the nuance of our modern-day reality and the tension of our technological future with Jenny and Greg Swan. Check out the archives here.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, subscribe to be notified of future episodes, and follow The Cave Project on Instagram!