An unstoppable force is ravaging modern-day classrooms, leaving even the most seasoned teachers unable to weather the storm. In 2022, the National Education Association (NEA) reported that more than two-thirds of teachers considered burn-out to be a very serious issue and over half of teachers were planning to exit sooner than expected due to the impacts of the pandemic. In fact, K-12 teachers rank highest in burnt out professionals. Many reasons for teachers’ mass exodus are established systemic issues — low wages, meddling management, poor funding — yet one rising concern is the increasingly misbehaving child.
Across the country, teachers are finding that this generation of young students is strikingly different. Aside from the pandemic, the NEA found that over 75% of teachers say that student behavioral issues are a serious issue. Teachers like Stacey Sawyer, a thirty-year life-long teacher, are leaving the profession due to a lack of consequences for chronic absenteeism and misbehavior. Other teachers have reported higher rates of violence in classrooms, including verbal and physical altercations. And students are having a difficult time focusing on tasks, regulating their emotions, and being told no.
For the past three years, we as a society have pointed towards the pandemic as explanation. The sudden, forced, and otherwise traumatic isolation during students’ formative years stunted cognitive development and social skills across every age group. To be sure, the effects of the pandemic and its subsequent lock-downs will continue to reverberate for decades as students continue to face significant learning deficits, higher rates of loneliness and depression, and over $270,000 of lost lifetime earnings. However, virtual learning and lock-downs are not panaceas for why students are behaving so differently.
The abrupt shift in misbehavior can be traced back years before COVID-19. In 2016, Sue Palmer, a psychologist and literacy expert, found that children spent 5 to 6 hours a day looking at screens — often two or more screens at once. Excessive screen-time has resulted in a lack of resilience, causing children unable to cope with unexpected rules. It has resulted in short attention spans, enabling disruptive behaviors in public spaces. And it has transformed the iPad into a security blanket, determining whether some children feel they are able to properly eat or sleep.
Screen-time is not new to the youngest generation. Indeed, it is a familiar topic to my generation. In 2017, psychologist Dr. Jean M. Twenge wrote for the Atlantic that Generation Z has possibly been destroyed by the rise of smartphones. In her analysis, Dr. Twenge found that “the gentle slopes of the line graphs became steep mountains and sheer cliffs, and many of the distinctive characteristics of the Millennial generation began to disappear. In all my analyses of generational data — some reaching back to the 1930s — I had never seen anything like it.” Dr. Twenge goes on to describe what may be common knowledge for my generation: Gen Z is more anxious, more depressed, less likely to date, less likely to have sex, less likely to go outside, less likely to talk to friends and family, more likely to be lonely, and more likely to rot in bed (doom scrolling).
My generation knows deeply — intimately — that smartphones and social media have been detrimental to our mental health and wellbeing. Comparatively, millennials found great adventure in the wild west of wonky websites in a budding internet that blossomed into Buzzfeed and auto-tuned musical numbers of viral videos. Millennials curated their social media profiles with excitement, choosing to share sizzling highlights since they had all graduated high school by then. Back in the cafeteria, Gen Z was being preyed upon by addictive like-based metrics which were tied to their identity and self-worth. Our digital experiences could not be more disparate. This is why certain camps of Gen Z can be found leading smartphone liberation movements and opting for flip phones, limited screen time, and an overall detox of technology. And this is why you may find calls to action on TikTok advocating for a generation-wide agreement to stop raising iPad kids.
The latest generation of children — Gen Alpha and the tail end of Gen Z — are raised by Millennials and Gen X. However, as the iPad kid moniker implies, many children are increasingly raised by their iPads while their parents work increasingly-demanding careers in an unfair economy. The damage caused by excessive screen-time has clearly reached a breaking point with this latest wave of early students, the likes of which have never been seen. In the coming years, as schools confront a complete cycle of iPad kids, I believe that a child’s digital parentage will be a leading indicator of success as important as their race, class, and geographic origin — specifically, that iPad kids will face deficiencies in cognitive development, fewer academic opportunities, and lower wages compared to children with stronger digital upbringings.
Who are the iPad Kids?
The derogatory slang term, “iPad Kid”, often refers to children who are addicted to their devices. The toddler who cannot be soothed without their tablet. The elementary student who cannot eat without simultaneously watching YouTube. On the internet, the iPad kid is differentiated from the traditional population of young people who, while they still may spend considerable time on their screens, are not glued to their screens. “Normal” kids may opt to spend time outdoors and engage in conversation at the dinner table, something that is much less common for the iPad kid.
Though demographic data has yet to be explicitly segmented, we can extrapolate general trends from household data. According to the 2020 Census, households with children are over 20% more likely to own an iPad than households without children. Controlled for unknown variables, we can assume that the differential between these two types of households represent children.
For example, households with children where the highest level of education is a high school diploma or less are nearly 30 percentage points more likely to own an iPad than households of the same education level without children. Comparatively, households with children where the highest level of education is a college degree are only 19% more likely to own an iPad than their counterparts. Similarly, the differential between households where the household income is lower than $50,000 is nearly twice as large as the households where the household income is above $100,000. These findings may suggest that poorer, less educated households are more likely to purchase a new tablet for their children than their richer, more educated counterparts.
These findings are corroborated by the Pew Research Center, which finds that college educated parents are much more likely to worry that devices will negatively impact their children’s social skills and creativity. The center also finds that parents are most likely to choose 5–8 years of age as the age when children can own their own tablet. UNICEF would also say that most children begin using digital devices at the age of four, and that 25% of preschool children already own their own digital device.
Thus, we can define iPad kids as children who are generally between five and eleven years old. These children spend their time watching unilateral videos and playing sensorily stimulating games, even in social settings. These children may be more likely to come from lower-income and less educated households, whose parents may be too overwhelmed with work and financial stress to worry about their children’s digital habits. And naturally, iPad kids have become more common within Gen Alpha, as tech-savvy generations like Millennials rear children (and tablet prices drop).
How do I know if I have an iPad kid?
Children with their own personal device are not automatically categorized as iPad kids. As technology advanced, it was expected that today’s children would own more personal devices than previous generations. What was unexpected was the clear divide between those who practiced healthy versus unhealthy habits. There are three key behavioral and psychological indicators that distinguish an iPad kid from the modern child.
First and foremost, iPad kids are less equipped to regulate their emotions, especially when devices become a primary calming method. In a 2022 pediatric study, researchers found that young children have “decreased executive functioning and increased emotional reactivity at baseline.” These children were significantly more temperamental than children whose parents did not use iPads to calm outbursts. The study reasoned that children were not developing emotion-regulation strategies, which had been displaced by the instant gratification and sensational distractions found on their devices. Furthermore, they are more likely to have bigger emotions — more intense feelings, more impulsive wants — in the first place. Together, these tendencies create a vicious cycle of bigger and bigger emotions despite fewer and fewer emotion-regulation strategies.
Secondly, iPad kids have poorer social skills compared to traditional peers. In a 2017 study from American Academy of Pediatrics, handheld screen time was found to delay speech and language expression in toddlers. For every 30 minutes of additional screen time, the risk of speech delay increased by 49% and decreased words spoken by 8 to 16 words per day. Later on, children become deficient in communication skills, since videos and games often do not encourage two-way conversations. In a recent study, medical researchers found that children who had spent four or more hours with screens were nearly five times more likely to have underdeveloped communication skills. Tangibly, this phenomenon may look like children refusing to speak during meals, in public, or with peers.
Lastly, iPad kids are more often experiencing learning deficits, including compulsivity and attention-spans. In the Journal of Adolescent Health, a new study found that children who spend significantly more time on screens develop higher rates of OCD. For every hour spent watching YouTube videos, the odds of a child developing the disorder increased by 11% compared to the baseline psychopathy. YouTube encourages hyperactivity in sensational content — much more so than television which did not seem to have similar outcomes. In addition, iPad kids tend to have significantly lower levels of visual memory, spatial relationships, fine motor skills, and dexterity. In other words, screens are less effective at developing the ability to understand shapes and work with physical objects compared to non-digital learning tactics, such as playing with toys and mimicking nearby people.
To be fair, tablets can be wonderful learning intervention tools. Students with learning disabilities may better engage with educational games. Gamification can facilitate math skills and English as a Second Language learning. Reading apps have also been extensively proven to improve literacy and practice phonics with early readers. However, the effects of targeted intervention cannot be equivocated with the effects of broad overuse and oversight of screen time.
Of course, there are even more indicators — higher rates of ADHD, inability to imagine and problem solve— that have begun to arise. The iPad kid spends less time reading books, which teach fundamental rules on structuring thoughts and logic. They lack empathy compared to their non-tablet peers. They seemingly cannot follow basic instructions nor respect authority figures. As we continue to study the socio-emotional consequences of screen time, we may find effects much broader in scope and reach — specifically how these skill deficiencies affect success beyond academic achievement.
When screens deny success
The key indicators of success of today will certainly continue to be determining factors tomorrow. Today, students from families in the top 0.1% of wealth are more than twice as likely to be admitted from to an elite college compared to poorer students with the same test scores. Today, students in more affluent zip codes are more likely to score higher on tests, attend specialized camps, and participate in advanced coursework— they also have far lower rates of asthma. Today, college graduates can expect an increase in lifetime earnings of around a million dollars, compared to non-graduates. Indeed, today’s most successful people are often pre-destined for greatness based on their family’s income and wealth.
Yet, tomorrow’s students’ success will not only be determined by cash but by their digital habits. After all, the arguably greatest indicators of academic success include early mastery of literary and math skills, self-regulation capabilities, and social competence. Notice — all developmental areas being detrimentally impacted by unbridled screen time across all socioeconomic statuses and geographies.
Based on their socio-emotional setbacks, I theorize (perhaps unoriginally) that iPad kids will face deficiencies in three defining traits for long-term success: leadership, popularity, and agency.
Leadership is a learned skill that many students are capable of — organizing projects, motivating team members, and taking initiative. One of the most significant contributors to a student’s leadership capabilities is their social competence. That is, their ability to make friends, act positively, resolve conflicts, and read the room. Another contributor is whether a student takes advantage of leadership opportunities early on. Responsibility snowballs, which is why student leaders in elementary school continue to lead in middle and high school. Both of these contributions will favor the student that is emotionally mature from a young age.
Popularity is a fickle social feature that, though certainly related to physical attractiveness and gender and race, begins with cognitive development. In a 2017 study, students who were popular rated higher in likability, communication, and awareness. They work well in groups. They exhibit self-motivation and empathy. They speak with charisma and confidence. In return, popular students graduate school at higher rates than the control group and earn a premium of 5.3% on their income in their first 15 years of working. The students who will become popular in high school are the socially developed students already practicing engaging communication.
Agency, in the context of young students, is the intrinsic belief that they can act and problem solve on their own. Increasingly, teachers have noticed that young students falling into the trap of learned helplessness as a result of virtual, distance learning during COVID-19. Little Christopher may tell his teacher that he does not understand the assignment. His teacher tells him to read the instructions. He reads the first sentence then gives up. His teacher asks Christopher to read all of the instructions. He reads it then asks what the instructions said. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as iPad kids’ problem solving and reading comprehension skills diminish. The child with stronger imagination and resiliency will outperform the iPad kid who practiced neither.
Together, these missing traits will limit the opportunities that iPad kids will have access to as high school and college students, especially compared to their digitally healthier peers who become self-motivated and empathetic leaders. As a Gen Z college graduate and corporate cog, I have witnessed the free throw line move farther and farther from the lay person. College admissions are unforgiving of the underdeveloped student— today’s average college applicant is involved in 7 to 8 extracurriculars and hold prominent leadership positions in two of them. Elite corporate industries like consulting begin their recruitment process as early as freshman year of college, meaning students must have a strong resume and be privy to the corporate environment at merely eighteen years old.
Make no mistake, iPad kids — our education and professional systems are far more comfortable catering to the prepared than making accommodations for those left behind.
Conclusion
The subdivision of today’s children with hours of unmonitored screen time are experiencing setbacks that could haunt them for decades. They struggle to calm their emotions and solve problems on their own — traits that had been most commonly attributed to poor and neurodivergent students. As these challenges begin to show up across poor and rich students, white students and students of color, neurodivergent and neurotypical students, boys and girls — the common indicator may not be the typical background traits but their digital upbringing.
Of course, a student’s digital upbringing draws upon their parents socioeconomic status and education. More educated parents tend to be more wary of poor digital habits, and wealthier parents are able to enlist their children in extracurricular activities. And there are factors contributing to their socio-emotional development outside of the parents’ control. No parent asked for COVID-19 and social distancing. Corporate interests have made social media algorithms predatory and addictive. The No Child Left Behind Act strips schools’ abilities to deal consequences. There are plenty of factors outside of a parent’s control that determine a child’s success.
Nevertheless, parenting style has and will increasingly become a leading indicator for success — especially around digital wellbeing. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends that infants and toddlers receive no screen time, and that young children under the age of 5 have less than one hour per day. Furthermore, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that bedrooms and mealtime are electronic-free. With those guidelines in mind, what are some of the best things parents can do in place of screen time?
Do nothing. There is plenty of research that boredom sparks creativity, imagination, and playful experimentation. Children today are just as capable of finding fun in mundane activities, much like older generations who did not have iPads did. They will find books to read and bugs to observe and songs to dance.
Integration with daily life can also be an incredibly powerful, liberating ethnotheory of play. Children can find joy in performing everyday activities with the adults they admire and respect — cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, folding laundry. These activities refine their motor skills, improve empathy levels, and exposes them to chores early on.
Parents can replace tablets with toys. Physical toys like building blocks are more effective at refining children’s motor skills and visual-spatial awareness than objects on a flat screen. Dolls and action figures help with empathy and role-playing. Scooters and tricycles encourage movement and exploration. Develop a productive selection of toys.
If screen time is needed, try television! Long-form content does not have the same instant gratification and hyperactivity as YouTube and TikTok — children’s television is also a heavily regulated industry. As a child, I was a big fan of low-stimulation shows like Kipper the Dog and Curious George.
Finally, if and when the child owns their own device, their internet habits should be closely monitored. Educational and interactive content should be prioritized, followed by a curation of kid-friendly content (and not disturbing content disguised as kid-friendly like Skibidi Toilet or Happy Tree Friends).
