Smash your smartphone if you like -- but don't lobby Congress just yet

Parents who are attracted to the idea of providing a “free range” childhood to their kids run into a difficulty. The neighborhood ethic has disappeared. It was this ethic that allowed kids to organize their own playtime in afternoons, aided by neighbors and stay-at-home moms who watched at a distance or facilitated in a pinch. I was recently talking about this with Samuel Hammond of the Niskanen Center, when he encapsulated it with an evocative phrase. We had seen in our lifetimes the “enclosure of the parental commons.” Helicopter parents can navigate this by filling their kids’ days and nights with activity, but many others have just allowed screens to satisfy their kids who find that there’s no one to play with nearby.

We simply don’t know enough about the specific role screen time is playing in depression to be confident that banning it for kids is a good idea.

And we may just have to get used to the idea that, like cigarettes, some social nuisances cannot be solved in one generation. People who are skeptical of screen culture can continue to heroically opt out where they can. Groups of people who are skeptical of the screen’s effect on children are making schools and other institutions that ban them. These are done in high-income neighborhoods and already have a bit of social cachet for that reason. I expect them to spread. Before reaching for legislation, we should have a little patience and encourage lots of private experimentation to see where smartphone use and social media should be discouraged, or allowed.