Tech Policy Expert on Kids’ Digital Devices: ’Parental Controls Don’t Give Parents Real Control’

Tech policy expert Clare Morell discusses the harms of screen usage and offers a radical, refreshing solution.
Tech Policy Expert on Kids’ Digital Devices: ’Parental Controls Don’t Give Parents Real Control’
Even limited screen time draws children into digital worlds that can alter their desires, affections, and emotional health. Vera Livchak/Getty Images
Barbara Danza
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It has been almost two decades since the first iPhone landed on the scene, but parents are still struggling with how to best guide their children through the digital landscape. Clare Morell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, director of the center’s technology and human flourishing project, and author of “The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.”

“I want the minds and hearts of the next generation to be shielded from the harms of digital technologies, and I want to help parents who are on the frontlines do that,” she said.

We asked her for advice for parents who wish to protect their children from the increasingly apparent negative effects of smartphones.

"The Tech Exit" by Clare Morell. "This book offers an escape plan for parents, a way out of screens if they’ve already given them to their kids [who] need to detox, and a guidebook of steps to follow to exit these technologies over the long term," she said. (Courtesy of Clare Morell)
"The Tech Exit" by Clare Morell. "This book offers an escape plan for parents, a way out of screens if they’ve already given them to their kids [who] need to detox, and a guidebook of steps to follow to exit these technologies over the long term," she said. Courtesy of Clare Morell
The Epoch Times: Do you believe that most parents are underestimating the dangers inherent in giving their children or teens smartphones?
Ms. Morell: Yes, I do. Unfortunately, parents have been told by tech companies that they can mitigate any harm from smartphones and social media by setting time limits and parental controls, but that isn’t true.

Screen time limits don’t map onto a child’s mental and emotional time. They can be mentally living in the virtual world long after they leave it. And even a small amount of time each day creates a strong craving for more because the technology is inherently addicting.

It would be like a parent asking how many cigarettes are OK to let a child smoke each day. The design and substance of it, even in small amounts, is inherently harmful to kids. And parental controls don’t give parents real control. It’s all too easy for children to come across pornography and other inappropriate content through apps on a smartphone. There are too many portals to the online world to effectively oversee and too many bugs and loopholes in the controls. They aren’t fully effective.

The Epoch Times: In what ways, if any, do you believe that digital devices enhance family life or are good for children?
Ms. Morell: I tend to have a more pessimistic view on how digital devices can enhance family life or be good for children. With almost any good a digital technology can deliver, the real-world version of that good is better. Take, for example, research a child could do using the internet. In most cases, that research would probably be better done with old-fashioned books. Studies show children comprehend texts more deeply when they read them on paper versus on a screen.

But, I will acknowledge [that] there are instances where a computer could be useful for an educational assignment or research project or for allowing a child to develop coding skills or other hard computer science skills, in which case I recommend that families allow children to use computers and the internet only publicly and purposefully, so that others can walk by and see what they’re doing and so they have a clear, time-limited purpose they are using it for and it doesn’t turn into mindlessly scrolling.

Likewise, for televisions, families can use these together for good purposes, such as watching a family movie or sporting event together. So I advise families that the bigger the screen, the better so that you are enjoying this screen entertainment as a shared activity and that [its use] is sparing, that TV watching is not a daily habit but a treat on the weekends or for special occasions.

Author and policy expert Clare Morell. (Courtesy of Clare Morell)
Author and policy expert Clare Morell. Courtesy of Clare Morell
The Epoch Times: Many parents try to implement screen time rules in their home but struggle. In your new book you say screen time limits “aren’t working out.” Why is that?
Ms. Morell: The technology is designed to be inherently addicting. Its features release dopamine in the brain, which creates a strong and constant craving for more, even if they only spend a limited amount of time each day on it. Anything that is a daily activity becomes a strong habit, and screens are a dangerous habit because of how they overwhelm a child’s developing nervous system and brain.

And the screen use is not only an opportunity cost of the child’s time spent rather than doing another real-world activity, but the screen also changes their tastes and desires so that they become desensitized to real-world pleasures. The beauty of the natural world and real-life activities becomes boring and mundane to them. So it’s not only an opportunity cost of their time but also their affections.

The Epoch Times: What strategies do you recommend for parents who have let the cat out of the bag—they’ve given their kids smartphones and now they regret it?
Ms. Morell: It’s never too late to reverse course. It is possible to reset your child’s brain and break their compulsion toward screens and form new habits off screens; just start with a 30-day digital detox.

A detox means no tablets, no smartphones, no internet, no social media, and no video games, and the only use of a TV being a family movie on a Friday night. Make a plan for the 30 days of what screen-free activities and tasks around the house children will do instead and put that plan on the wall next to the calendar. Try it out and see the benefits for yourself.

The first two weeks may be hard, but once you get over the hump, children will start to learn how to entertain themselves and they’ll stop asking for the screens. And it’s never too late, even for teens. Even if you only have one year left with your teen before they go to college, let that be a year free of a smartphone and social media, where you give them more real-world freedoms instead and help them develop the skills and maturity they need for entering adult life.

The Epoch Times: What ideal boundaries do you suggest families incorporate in their homes when it comes to technology?
Ms. Morell: In addition to completely opting out of smartphones and social media for kids, for other tech use in the home, such as a family computer or television, I recommend these two principles: 1) Screen use is public and purposeful, and 2) screen entertainment is sparing and shared.

This means if a child needs to do a research project for school, they do it on a family computer [located] where everyone can walk by and see what they are doing, and they go on for that time-limited purpose and then get off; there is no aimless surfing of the internet. And then screens for entertainment, such as a TV, are only used together as a family as a treat on occasion and not as a daily habit.

The Epoch Times: What do you wish more parents understood about smartphones and other digital devices?
Ms. Morell: That they are impossible to lock down or oversee effectively. Many parents assume they can give a child a smartphone without social media, but any child safety expert can tell you that’s not the case.

There are thousands of apps available. Most apps have their own in-app browsers, their own portals to the internet that most external parental controls and filters can’t access or block, and even innocuous apps such as educational games have social media components where complete strangers can message your kids. It is simply impossible for a parent to completely protect their child from every possible threat that comes through a smartphone. There are just too many entry points and too many loopholes and bugs for parents to shut down, and the sheer size and portability of a smartphone make it very secretive and private and difficult for a parent to see into.

While the smartphone is most dangerous, other interactive screens such as tablets and video games are also overstimulating to a child’s nervous system and also introduce potential dangers to a child. A tablet is a very slippery slope into a smartphone, so starting young, resist interactive screens.

Finally, a neglected effect of screens is the eye damage this is causing in children. An ophthalmologist friend of mine is seeing 8-year-old kids coming into her practice struggling with chronic dry eye because their eye oil glands have dried up from staring at screens. When a child stares at a screen, they aren’t blinking; when the eye isn’t blinking, it isn’t releasing oil from the oil glands and the glands dry up. Once they dry up, they are gone—you can’t get them back. So these children will have to artificially lubricate their eyes for the rest of their lives or they risk scar tissue building up, which can ultimately lead to blindness. I asked her how much time on a screen is too much, and she told me we don’t really know, but all she could tell me is that we should be drastically minimizing the amount of time children are spending on screens.

The Epoch Times: What role do you think the government should play in protecting children digitally?
Ms. Morell: Parents need better laws to back them up. There are collective aspects of the harm to children from digital technologies that parents on their own can’t confront, such as the way their use changes the entire social environment for children or the fact that any child with a smartphone can lean over and show another child a pornography website. And there are precedents in our laws that, when we recognize something is so harmful to children, we pass laws to age-restrict it out of childhood entirely, rather than leaving it up to individual parents. The same should be true for pornography websites and social media today. The government should age-restrict these out of childhood.

Also, currently no parental consent is required for a child to create a social media account or for a child to download an app. The government should pass laws to require parental consent so that parents’ rightful authority over their children is respected in the online world.

Barbara Danza
Barbara Danza
writer
Barbara Danza is a contributing editor covering family and lifestyle topics. Her articles focus on homeschooling, family travel, entrepreneurship, and personal development. She contributes children’s book reviews to the weekly booklist and is the editor of “Just For Kids,” the newspaper’s print-only page for children. Her website is BarbaraDanza.com