Screen time and teenagers
Observation
Effect sizes in large studies linking screen time to teen wellbeing are small and contested among researchers, while public discussion treats the link as settled and large.
Narrative
Smartphones broke a generation. The evidence is conclusive.
Alternative View
The harm may be real but concentrated: specific uses, specific ages, specific vulnerabilities, rather than 'screens' as a category.
Unknowns
Which uses of which platforms drive which outcomes? What explains cross-country differences in the trend? What would falsify the dominant claim?
Question
When did you last see the effect sizes rather than the headlines?
Why It Matters
Legislation affecting all young people is being written while researchers still disagree about the basic effect.