Families Are Ditching ‘Digital Fentanyl’ for Smartphone-Free Living

Smartphones are “digital fentanyl,” says Clare Morell, author of “The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.” 

Studies show that a child’s phone or tablet usage directly affects his or her brain development and “hinders their ability to self-regulate their own emotions, to develop self-control, and impulse control,” Morell says. 

Consuming digital content, especially social media, is designed to cause a release of dopamine and causes kids to increasingly live in the “limbic part of their brain, which is their social-reward kind of processing center, and it is leading to the underdevelopment of their prefrontal cortex.” 

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for self-control, regulating emotions, and critical thinking. 

As more knowledge about the effect of social media on the brain becomes known, some families are choosing to ditch smartphones altogether. 

Morell joins “Problematic Women” to share the stories of families who have decided to wait to give their children smartphones until they are adults, and to provide a road map for how other families can join the growing trend. 

Also on today’s show, we take a moment to remember the lives lost to the flash flooding in Texas. Plus, we discuss Elon Musk’s proposed America Party and a Gen Z trend known as “micro-retirements.” 

Enjoy the conversation.