Most of us with a functioning brain know that smartphones aren’t doing wonders for our mental health — this is especially true for children. What’s worse, however, is that our cherished devices may be hazardous to our physical health — including that of a well-functioning heart. The longstanding controversy over the risks posed to our physical bodies by phone use is heating up again, and many Americans aren’t ready for that conversation.
Despite mounting evidence, recent polls show many parents aren’t overly concerned about their children’s phone use, period. Plenty of parents are even against banning cell phones in schools. Around two-thirds of parents, perhaps surprisingly, said they’d rather their kids have phones during school hours — just with some limits on when and how they can use them. Many believe phones are essential for emergencies or arranging rides.
Maybe it’s time to step back from the endless scroll and reconnect — actually communicating to people with our mouths rather than via emojis and LOLs.
There’s some merit to this, but when we zoom out, as we’ll see, the bigger picture looks rather grim.
The same parents who want their children connected during the school day are also deeply concerned about social media. In fact, over 80% support setting a minimum age for social media use. And this brings us to a critical point: What exactly are kids doing on their phones? You guessed it — scrolling through social media.
There’s no denying the association between cell phone use and time spent on social platforms. It’s nearly inseparable. While scrolling, swiping, and posting, kids are soaking up endless streams of comparison, validation, and distraction, which studies show have direct ties to mental health decline. Increased rates of depression, anxiety, and attention disorders in young people aren’t random — they’re byproducts of this toxic environment.
But that’s not all they’re soaking up. A growing body of research shows that smartphones also affect physical well-being.
A shot to the heart
A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology tracked 444,027 adults across England, Wales, and Scotland for over 12 years. The results were, for lack of a better word, alarming. People using their phones for six or more hours a week had a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those using them for an hour or less. Remember, six hours a week is nothing today: Many people, especially kids, clock at least six hours a day.
Now, think about that. If prolonged phone use is causing cardiovascular problems in adults, what’s happening to children, whose bodies are still developing? And we’re not talking about rare cases here; we’re talking about tens of millions of kids who have their faces glued to a screen for the better part of every day.
Emergencies happen, and sure, coordination between parents and kids is essential. However, the benefits of constant connectivity do not outweigh the risks. Emergencies used to be handled just fine before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket. Persistent anxiety and a top-down emphasis on the risk-minimizing precautionary principle have conditioned us — and our children — to believe these devices are indispensable. They’re not; we simply choose to see them that way.
Our health, on the other hand, is what’s truly indispensable.
Digging deeper
It’s crucial to emphasize that this isn’t the stuff of tinfoil-hat conspiracies — it’s grounded in real science. Ironically, the risk aversion leading people to cling to their phones has not triggered an equal or greater concern about clinging too tightly. As Psychology Today’s Dr. Chris Gilbert recently highlighted, decades of research have demonstrated that mobile phones emit radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, which can influence biological tissues. The potential mechanisms of this influence are worrying: oxidative stress, inflammation, and even thermal effects akin to how a microwave oven heats food. The closer you are to the device, the stronger the electromagnetic field, and its impact increases.
Again, harm to the heart is central to the threat. Gilbert singles out the potential stimulation of nerve fibers in the heart as a significant problem associated with excessive smartphone use. Given that the heart is a vital organ constantly pumping blood, even minor disturbances could lead to major consequences. That’s not quite a smoking gun: While research shows a correlation between cell phone usage and an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, it doesn’t mean that cell phones directly cause heart disease. Although correlation doesn’t equal causation, the evidence is stacking up.
Take the work of Joel Moskowitz, a respected researcher in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley and director of Berkeley’s Center for Family and Community Health. His extensive research indicates that prolonged cellphone usage may indeed pose health risks due to the radiation they emit. According to Moskowitz, while governments do regulate cell phones, towers, and other wireless devices, the U.S. government stopped funding research into the health effects of radiofrequency radiation in the 1990s. Since then, significant negative biological effects have emerged, including an increased risk of brain cancer linked to cellphone use.
The introduction of 5G — and soon 6G — has only intensified these concerns.
Reality check
So how much dismay is the right amount, and what’s the proper course of action? Should we toss our smartphones and return to the days of pay phones, as National Review’s Rich Lowry recently suggested on “Real Time with Bill Maher”? No, and rightly so — nobody’s seriously advocating for a regression to a pre-digital world. But we should consider spending less time glued to our screens and more time engaged in the real world.
That’s right. Maybe it’s time to step back from the endless scroll and reconnect — actually communicating to people with our mouths rather than via emojis and LOLs. While we’re not ready to abandon our phones altogether, we should at least recognize the risks and make choices that safeguard our well-being.
It’s about balance — using technology without letting it dominate our lives.
Of course, this commonsensical course of action presumes that we won’t be forced — whether by economic circumstances or even eventually by law — to overuse digital devices, bombarding our bodies with harm. Companies always have an incentive to maximize the use and scale of their products. But just as we shouldn’t drink a Coke every hour, we should guard against the pressure of powerful interests that want to migrate real life fully into cyberspace via devices our bodies ultimately reject.