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(keys clicking) (orchestral music)

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- These are changing human relationships,

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family relationships, with enormous consequences.

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- Technology companies have been very, very opportunistic

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about hiring very smart behavioral psychologists

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to brain-hack and to make these devices

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purposely compulsing.

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- What company can say they have billions of subscribers?

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Billions of users?

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With a B.

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- We know what the problems are.

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We're living them in our house.

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We don't hear about solutions from big tech companies.

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We don't hear about solutions from our schools.

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- And if Mom or Dad is staring at their phone,

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then the kid is gonna say,

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"That's the way I'm expected to behave in the world."

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- Well, it's very close to an actual drug addiction.

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MRI scans, which really show the scan

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of a cocaine addict who's high.

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- It's an emerging public health crisis

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of internet addiction.

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(static crackles)

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(film reel whirring)

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(cheerful, mellow music)

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- [Jon] Yup, that was me.

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I was never good at sports.

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That's probably why I became a filmmaker.

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Although I always enjoyed being active outside

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and having playtime with my family and friends,

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building lasting memories with real people.

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That guy with the dad bod right there?

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That's me now.

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I still like being outside,

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but nowadays, I can have most of my interactions

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conveniently located in my pocket, on a smartphone.

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And, gee, do I love my phone.

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However, I think we may all share the same problem.

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I look at it all the time.

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It's the first thing I check in the morning.

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My entertainment while traveling to work.

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My conversations with people at lunch.

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And it's the last thing I see before bed,

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while watching an even larger screen in front of me.

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Just like me, my wife also checks her phone

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far too often during the day.

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Being a stay-at-home mom,

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it's how she keeps in touch with the outside world

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while taking care of our three busy boys.

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We often chat about our phone use

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and if we are addicted to our smartphones.

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People say, "Oh, I'm so addicted to my phone."

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Do you think you're addicted to your phone?

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- Yeah.

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It's like smoking a cigarette.

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When there's a lull in the conversation,

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it used to be like, you would be like,

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"Oh, I'm gonna go have a cigarette,"

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and that would be like something

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to get you out of that lull.

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Whereas now, if there's a lull, you just check your phone.

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- How annoying is it when, 'cause there's so much stuff

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to do around the house and I'm looking at my phone?

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- Very annoying. (laughs)

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- [Jon] And, boy, am I distracted by my smartphone.

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It pulls me away from my work,

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my children, and my relationships

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by feeding me constant updates and notifications,

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(smartphone buzzing) usually unimportant,

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but it's something I feel I'm compelled to check.

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So what am I looking at? (pensive music)

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Like most of you, I'm checking emails, news,

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but mostly social media.

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And we may be looking too much.

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According to research, 70% of adults

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spend almost three to five hours per day online.

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Some may be hitting seven hours.

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80% of those hours logged are on a mobile device.

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And a recent study shows

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that this can add up to seven years of our lives

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spent using a smartphone, liking, tweeting,

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and taking pictures of our food and children.

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And my problems focusing may have long-term effects

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because of the smartphone.

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A study done by Microsoft

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revealed the average attention span

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dropped from 12 seconds to eight

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since the mobile revolution began,

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which makes our attention span second below a goldfish,

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which is only nine.

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And what about our kids?

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While my boys are very active,

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adventurous, fun little guys,

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the screen devices are a hot commodity around here.

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They seem mesmerized, like I seem to be when using them,

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and taking them away is difficult.

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- The tone and the behavior, as soon as the screen goes on

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and has to be turned off, is dramatic.

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- Ahh, he's doing all that?

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- I hate my life. - I hate you.

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Why are you making me get off the screen?

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According to Common Sense Media, children up to age eight

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are spending up to three hours a day consuming screen media,

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children eight to 12 spend closer to five hours,

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and teenagers can be more than six

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and even up to nine hours.

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What exactly are these devices doing

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to their long-term mental and social well-being?

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And our kids get to watch us all day long

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being drawn back into our screens.

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What do our behaviors teach them?

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We may not be paying attention to them when they need us to.

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So I decided to hit the road and get some answers

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about what these devices are doing to us

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and how they're impacting the younger generation

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who's growing up in a fully connected, wired world.

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Most people I talked to said they were, quote,

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"addicted" to their smartphone

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and could not live without it.

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So is this real addiction?

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And what is an addiction anyway?

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- I would say addiction is a loss of control

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around a particular behavior,

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whether it's ingesting substances or alcohol

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or engaging in a particular behavior.

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So it's a loss of control

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and it's a pattern of having a loss of control

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that's negatively impacting your life.

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(soft digital music)

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- [Jon] So what about looking at our phones

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150 times a day?

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Is this an addiction?

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Are we screen-addicted?

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- To us, it really is addictive-compulsive behavior.

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Just go to a meeting or go to a restaurant

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or go to an airport and look at the people,

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and see them glued to their screens

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as opposed to paying attention to the people around them.

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- It affects our personal relationships.

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It affects our love lives.

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It affects our ability to concentrate and our personalities

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and how we work and, really, who we are.

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And I think that makes it one

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of the most pervasive addictions

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and potentially dangerous ones.

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- Ultimately, people have free will.

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They have the ability to put down their phones.

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But I think these companies are doing everything they can

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to short-circuit free will and, in a way,

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to make us forget that we ever had it in the first place.

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- When we think of addiction, we think of substances,

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something that you put in your body

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and that changes the way you experience the world.

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That's been true of addiction for centuries,

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millennia, forever, basically.

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But things have changed, so now addiction can also apply

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to things that are behavioral where there is no substance.

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And that's what I'm interested in:

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a behavior that is so well designed,

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an experience that is so well engineered

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that you can effectively become addicted to that experience

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in the absence of any drug.

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That's really where screens come in, because most of those,

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the vast majority of those experiences that are addictive

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happen on screens.

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- I think we're actually being too cautious

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in recognizing this is a problem.

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Think about it very simply.

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All of the aspects of gambling addiction are present.

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In fact, those are the exact mechanisms

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that are being built in.

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- [Jon] And this is why checking our smartphones all day

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may not be our fault.

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In fact, it may not even be the devices, but what's on it.

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Most apps we use have been designed

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to monetize our attention

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and keep us logging on as much as possible.

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And what these app companies have learned,

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like gambling and slot machines before them,

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is that we are not addicted to the tech,

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but we are, in fact, addicted to getting rewards.

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(slot machine chiming)

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Intermittent rewards, to be exact.

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(soft jazz music) And what the heck

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are intermittent rewards anyway?

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Slot machines.

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What keeps people playing them for hours and hours?

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Why don't we stop playing after a win, big or small?

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Well, this is because of what psychologists call

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the most powerful motivator on the planet:

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intermittent rewards.

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- Now, you might imagine intuitively

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that you want rewards all the time.

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You know, you go do something, you get a reward,

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you do it again, you get a reward,

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and so on until the end of time.

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That's actually not that interesting to humans

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or any animals, really.

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What we like is unpredictability.

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We like randomness.

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- Many years ago, (playful music)

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influential American psychologist, Professor B.F. Skinner,

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ran experiments to help us all

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better understand our behaviors.

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(rat squealing) (electricity crackling)

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He used animal subjects,

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in this case, a pigeon, (pigeon coos)

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and made it peck a button to receive a reward of food.

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He found, when the pigeon received a reward every time

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or even on a set schedule of every three times,

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it would not be as interested in pecking the button

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and would burn out quickly.

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However, when the food came randomly,

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say, every 10 pecks or six, the pigeon became hooked.

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It was the anticipation of the reward

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that made it peck more frequently

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and for much longer periods of time.

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(slot machine tinkling)

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(slot machine chiming)

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- And that's why people gamble for hours.

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If you made those machines (unsettling music)

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such that you knew when you would be getting rewards

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and you'd get small, drip-fed doses of rewards,

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people would stop playing.

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So it started with these slot machines,

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and then video games started to build in

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some of these elements.

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And so, I think, my sense is the hierarchy

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went from gambling to video games,

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and now, you can also take it from the world

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of social media design.

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- [Jon] Every time we remove the devices

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from our pocket and scroll, we anticipate the reward.

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Every like, bit of information, or message is the payoff.

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We then play again for more.

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A basic behavioral loop that we are stuck in endlessly.

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Some apps, social networks, and game companies

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are manipulating their products to keep us in that loop.

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In November 2017, at an Axios event,

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Sean Parker, ex-president of Facebook,

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in a rare interview, broke his silence

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and spoke about how they manipulated us all along

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into becoming behaviorally addicted to their products.

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- That thought process was all about how do we consume

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as much of your time and conscious attention as possible.

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And that means that we need to sort of give you

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a little dopamine hit every once in a while,

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because someone liked or commented

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on a photo or a post or whatever,

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and that's gonna get you to contribute more content

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and that's gonna get you more likes and comments.

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It's a social validation feedback loop.

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They're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.

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The inventors/creators

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understood this consciously,

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and we did it anyway.

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- [Jon] And it wasn't just Sean Parker who spoke out.

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Investors and contributors who helped create these products

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also decided to take a stance.

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It seemed as though Silicon Valley was growing a conscience.

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Another early ex-senior executive of Facebook,

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Chamath Palihapitiya,

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speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business,

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backed up Sean Parker's claim and took it even further.

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- We wanna psychologically figure out

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how to manipulate you as fast as possible

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and then give you back that dopamine hit.

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We did that brilliantly at Facebook,

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Instagram has done it, WhatsApp has done it,

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you know, Snapchat has done it, Twitter has done it.

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We have created tools that are ripping apart

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the social fabric of how society works.

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- [Jon] Even the inventor of the Like button

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regretted what he'd helped create.

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- My name is Nir Eyal, and, a few years ago,

278
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I wrote a book called "Hooked: How to Build"--

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- [Jon] Author Nir Eyal helps design apps

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to become habit-forming.

281
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He shed some light on how companies are brain-hacking

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into our daily lives.

283
00:13:04,730 --> 00:13:05,817
- [Jon] So you started off

284
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in the video game industry, right?

285
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- Right, I was in the video gaming and advertising industry,

286
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and I learned a whole lot about how these two industries

287
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change consumer behavior.

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And so I kinda put these lessons I had gleaned

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from working in these two industries

290
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that specialized in changing people's behavior

291
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,957
so that all sorts of industries, all sorts of companies,

292
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all sorts of entrepreneurs could use these same tactics

293
00:13:27,030 --> 00:13:28,087
that Facebook and Twitter

294
00:13:28,130 --> 00:13:30,497
and the gaming companies and Instagram,

295
00:13:30,540 --> 00:13:31,777
the tactics that they're using

296
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to help change people's habits for good.

297
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The core of products that keep you coming back,

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that form these habits, (contemplative music)

299
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is what's called a hook.

300
00:13:39,220 --> 00:13:42,627
It's a four-step process that goes from a trigger,

301
00:13:42,670 --> 00:13:45,547
an action, a reward, and finally an investment.

302
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And it's through successive cycles through these hooks

303
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that our tastes our formed, our preferences are shaped,

304
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and these habits take hold.

305
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I'll walk you through them very, very quickly.

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Every hook starts with a trigger.

307
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A trigger is some kind of call to action.

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It tells you what to do next.

309
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There's these external triggers, like a notification,

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an email, some kind of message that says,

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"Hey, come check this out."

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The action phase is all about the simplest action done

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in anticipation of a reward.

314
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And so what we find is that tech companies are in a race

315
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to make the product as easy as possible to use

316
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because they know the easier something is to use,

317
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the more likely you are to use it.

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(spaceship whirring)

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(tractor beam humming)

320
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Then comes the variable reward,

321
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which is where you get what you came for, right,

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where you watch the video, you scroll the feed,

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then you get some kind of variable reinforcement

324
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for doing that behavior, where it starts to feel good.

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Then, finally, is the investment,

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where you put something into the product

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in anticipation of a future benefit.

328
00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:49,797
It's where you give the company data or you upload content,

329
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,547
you accrue followers, you put something into the service

330
00:14:52,590 --> 00:14:54,397
to make it better and better with use

331
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,017
so that, through successive cycles through these hooks,

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you no longer need external triggers at all.

333
00:15:01,550 --> 00:15:04,087
You're queued with what's called an internal trigger,

334
00:15:04,130 --> 00:15:06,597
and these tend to be negative emotional states.

335
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,857
We use Facebook when we're feeling lonely.

336
00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:11,787
We check YouTube when we're feeling bored.

337
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Without any kind of notifications,

338
00:15:13,630 --> 00:15:15,287
we're using these products on our own.

339
00:15:15,330 --> 00:15:16,573
We trigger ourselves.

340
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(device keyboards clicking)

341
00:15:22,716 --> 00:15:25,383
(pensive music)

342
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,354
- We, as a species, we wanna be connected with each other.

343
00:15:50,397 --> 00:15:53,067
You know, at one point, it was a matter of survival.

344
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We needed each other to stay warm, to get food,

345
00:15:56,890 --> 00:15:58,807
to survive, and to procreate.

346
00:15:58,850 --> 00:16:03,157
So we have a deeply ingrained drive for connectedness.

347
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,397
- What the screen has done to social interactions

348
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:06,433
is it edited them.

349
00:16:07,420 --> 00:16:11,547
It's interrupted the regular flow of human conversation

350
00:16:11,590 --> 00:16:14,457
in a way that's been incredibly damaging

351
00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:18,267
to our social relationships and damaging to our empathy,

352
00:16:18,310 --> 00:16:20,337
damaging to the way we've learned to communicate

353
00:16:20,380 --> 00:16:22,843
over thousands of years of human evolution.

354
00:16:26,650 --> 00:16:29,897
- We also have a deep fear of intimacy.

355
00:16:29,940 --> 00:16:31,747
And so one of the things

356
00:16:31,790 --> 00:16:34,827
that social media does very, very well

357
00:16:34,870 --> 00:16:37,327
and one of the reasons that it can suck you in

358
00:16:37,370 --> 00:16:41,103
is that it can make you feel connected without risk.

359
00:16:43,390 --> 00:16:45,887
You're safe behind the guise

360
00:16:45,930 --> 00:16:50,137
of the persona you present on social media.

361
00:16:50,180 --> 00:16:52,917
Because nobody presents their true selves on social media.

362
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,343
They present the self that they wanna be seen as.

363
00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:00,250
- And so you portray your perfect image

364
00:17:01,431 --> 00:17:03,607
in a Facebook or Instagram setting.

365
00:17:03,650 --> 00:17:05,037
That isn't really what your life is

366
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,480
but what you want other people to believe it is.

367
00:17:08,593 --> 00:17:10,547
That has a big impact on your self-esteem

368
00:17:10,589 --> 00:17:12,272
and your emotional development.

369
00:17:13,500 --> 00:17:16,426
- We know that the more time people spend on social media,

370
00:17:16,470 --> 00:17:19,037
the more likely they are to have psychological distress,

371
00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:20,777
anxiety, and depression.

372
00:17:20,819 --> 00:17:24,186
So this is having an impact on people's well-being.

373
00:17:24,230 --> 00:17:27,676
- These are things that are unintended consequences

374
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:32,437
of an effort to both make our lives look better

375
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,697
and to deal with the fact that everybody else's life

376
00:17:35,740 --> 00:17:38,073
looks even better than ours.

377
00:17:39,340 --> 00:17:42,147
Media companies have realized there are ways

378
00:17:42,190 --> 00:17:46,241
that you can reinforce that in ways that serve the company.

379
00:17:46,284 --> 00:17:49,157
(mellow music)

380
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:50,787
- [Jon] I decided to take a break

381
00:17:50,830 --> 00:17:53,397
from my various social networks.

382
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,687
I deactivated all of my accounts

383
00:17:55,730 --> 00:17:57,927
but kept my email and my phone service

384
00:17:57,970 --> 00:18:00,707
so I could work and function.

385
00:18:00,750 --> 00:18:03,057
My wife also decided to take a break

386
00:18:03,100 --> 00:18:05,933
but could not commit to deactivating her account.

387
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:08,907
It was odd at first.

388
00:18:08,950 --> 00:18:11,507
I felt like I was shutting off a part of myself

389
00:18:11,550 --> 00:18:13,437
in a means to get feedback

390
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,283
about what I was doing in my life.

391
00:18:16,170 --> 00:18:20,007
What would it be like without all these digital connections?

392
00:18:20,050 --> 00:18:21,883
And was I going too far?

393
00:18:22,940 --> 00:18:26,217
Throughout filming, I had many conversations with people

394
00:18:26,260 --> 00:18:27,537
on how we, as humans,

395
00:18:27,580 --> 00:18:30,103
were always worried about new technology.

396
00:18:31,090 --> 00:18:33,117
Were we just being paranoid?

397
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,913
Weren't we warned about the printing press destroying us?

398
00:18:36,956 --> 00:18:38,993
(film reel whirring) And comics?

399
00:18:41,270 --> 00:18:43,129
Oh, and the TV was bad.

400
00:18:43,172 --> 00:18:44,677
(women screaming) And the Beatles,

401
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:46,120
they were making kids crazy.

402
00:18:48,610 --> 00:18:49,787
- The intention was different.

403
00:18:49,830 --> 00:18:51,517
I think it was essentially to make something

404
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,727
that was engaging first, (pinball machines ringing)

405
00:18:53,770 --> 00:18:56,897
but it was never as mindful as what we're seeing now.

406
00:18:56,940 --> 00:18:58,597
Facebook has been trying to do this for a long time,

407
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:00,697
trying to hack into your attention.

408
00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:02,057
And that war for your attention, I think,

409
00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:04,327
is something that's very different from anything we've seen

410
00:19:04,370 --> 00:19:06,477
with any of these other products.

411
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,477
And you also see the rate of evolution,

412
00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,207
how much data these companies have,

413
00:19:10,250 --> 00:19:12,657
how fast they make changes on the fly,

414
00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:14,517
and the introduction of new small features

415
00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,587
like the bottomless feed on all these social media programs.

416
00:19:17,630 --> 00:19:19,527
One company does it, they all latch on,

417
00:19:19,570 --> 00:19:21,227
and all the other companies do the same thing

418
00:19:21,270 --> 00:19:22,737
because it's an arms race.

419
00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:25,857
That, to me, those signs, that kind of copycat behavior,

420
00:19:25,900 --> 00:19:27,687
the development of these new techniques,

421
00:19:27,730 --> 00:19:30,157
all of that is indicative that this is something different.

422
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,427
Nothing like that ever happened with pinball machines

423
00:19:32,470 --> 00:19:34,893
or with TV, so to me it's a different thing.

424
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,917
- It's probably the most vast thing mankind has ever made.

425
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,587
And there's a lot of good that comes from the internet,

426
00:19:42,630 --> 00:19:44,897
and we should expect a lot of bads

427
00:19:44,940 --> 00:19:46,477
that come from it as well.

428
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,107
We're going through this process that always occurs,

429
00:19:49,150 --> 00:19:52,257
which is we adopt these technologies,

430
00:19:52,300 --> 00:19:53,557
we're so excited by them,

431
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,167
you know, we kind of adopt them wholesale,

432
00:19:56,210 --> 00:19:57,000
and then, after a while, we say,

433
00:19:57,043 --> 00:19:58,027
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait.

434
00:19:58,070 --> 00:20:00,497
"There's some bad stuff here, too," right?

435
00:20:00,540 --> 00:20:03,467
We have this reappraisal of what are the real costs

436
00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:05,210
to these technologies we're using.

437
00:20:06,290 --> 00:20:08,407
- [Jon] And I love technology.

438
00:20:08,450 --> 00:20:11,217
I do realize there's the good and the bad,

439
00:20:11,260 --> 00:20:14,537
and maybe we need to figure out where we are going wrong

440
00:20:14,580 --> 00:20:16,314
so we can take it the right way.

441
00:20:16,357 --> 00:20:18,097
(soft digital music)

442
00:20:18,140 --> 00:20:20,297
So I paid a visit to someone who knows a lot

443
00:20:20,340 --> 00:20:23,693
about the history of modern tech and its turning points.

444
00:20:26,465 --> 00:20:29,132
(bird trilling)

445
00:20:36,852 --> 00:20:39,067
Hey, nice to meet you. - Hey, Jon.

446
00:20:39,110 --> 00:20:40,487
How are you? - Good, I'm good.

447
00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:41,430
- It's great to meet you. - This is it.

448
00:20:41,473 --> 00:20:43,487
- Welcome to my play land.

449
00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:45,627
Welcome to the Personal Computer Museum.

450
00:20:45,670 --> 00:20:46,777
My name is Syd Bolton.

451
00:20:46,820 --> 00:20:50,007
What you're about to see is a digital play land

452
00:20:50,050 --> 00:20:51,457
of all kinds of technology (video game beeping)

453
00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:52,493
through the ages.

454
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,937
When people started ditching their old technology,

455
00:20:56,980 --> 00:20:59,547
as people do and are still doing today,

456
00:20:59,590 --> 00:21:02,277
I started rescuing these machines and keeping them

457
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:04,067
because I wanted to learn about them.

458
00:21:04,110 --> 00:21:06,077
Every single computer had some sort

459
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:09,007
of redeeming quality to it, and I wanted to try that out.

460
00:21:10,710 --> 00:21:13,797
Bill Gates saw this and talked to his buddy, Paul Allen,

461
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:15,904
and said, "You know what, we need to make software

462
00:21:15,947 --> 00:21:19,337
"for this machine, and this is what launched Microsoft."

463
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,037
- Aren't you worried about any of these boxes,

464
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:23,787
just like they're gonna fall

465
00:21:23,830 --> 00:21:25,477
and they're just gonna bury you one day?

466
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,377
- You know, I do worry about that, actually.

467
00:21:27,420 --> 00:21:29,387
Buried in tech is the way to go.

468
00:21:29,430 --> 00:21:30,220
It's very simple.

469
00:21:30,263 --> 00:21:31,727
We turn our phones on, we push buttons,

470
00:21:31,770 --> 00:21:34,977
and they do what we hopefully ask them to do.

471
00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:38,537
These computers all required a certain amount of skill

472
00:21:38,580 --> 00:21:42,127
and work and luck to get them to do anything,

473
00:21:42,170 --> 00:21:44,347
and people felt a real sense of accomplishment

474
00:21:44,390 --> 00:21:45,807
when they got something done, right?

475
00:21:45,850 --> 00:21:47,697
We don't feel that way about our devices today.

476
00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:50,017
We just, we use them, they do what we need to do,

477
00:21:50,060 --> 00:21:51,047
we communicate with others,

478
00:21:51,090 --> 00:21:53,107
and then we move on to the next one.

479
00:21:53,150 --> 00:21:54,697
- It is very hard to look cool

480
00:21:54,740 --> 00:21:55,557
with this thing. - It is.

481
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,197
These would cost $1,500 to $1,800 for the phone

482
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:00,397
and your monthly plans

483
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,467
would be hundreds and hundreds of dollars,

484
00:22:02,510 --> 00:22:05,377
and you would get very limited amount of minutes with those.

485
00:22:05,420 --> 00:22:09,607
The BlackBerry was the first time that you saw people

486
00:22:09,650 --> 00:22:11,467
looking at their phones all the time.

487
00:22:11,510 --> 00:22:13,817
BlackBerrys did have full keyboards,

488
00:22:13,860 --> 00:22:15,497
and that is where people were able

489
00:22:15,540 --> 00:22:19,067
to communicate more effectively using a mobile device.

490
00:22:19,110 --> 00:22:22,067
And this truly, especially having the email on the go

491
00:22:22,110 --> 00:22:25,857
and being able to respond in a meeting, for example,

492
00:22:25,900 --> 00:22:26,690
to somebody else,

493
00:22:26,733 --> 00:22:29,627
and this is where distraction started to occur,

494
00:22:29,670 --> 00:22:32,937
this is where the immediacy of communication changed.

495
00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:35,080
- We remember the name they used to use for the BlackBerry.

496
00:22:35,123 --> 00:22:35,927
What was it?

497
00:22:35,970 --> 00:22:36,937
- CrackBerry?

498
00:22:36,980 --> 00:22:37,927
The CrackBerry, right?

499
00:22:37,970 --> 00:22:39,707
Because it's so addictive.

500
00:22:39,750 --> 00:22:42,757
- I remember the little red light would flash,

501
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:44,584
and you'd be like, "I need to go check that.

502
00:22:44,627 --> 00:22:46,197
"Someone has communicated with me."

503
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:47,227
- That's right, and that's the thing,

504
00:22:47,270 --> 00:22:50,497
because a lot of it is the fear of missing out, right?

505
00:22:50,540 --> 00:22:51,837
If you see that light on,

506
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,257
that means somebody wants to talk to you.

507
00:22:54,300 --> 00:22:57,027
That actually gives us a little bit of a high, right,

508
00:22:57,070 --> 00:22:58,557
and it's almost like a drug,

509
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,587
and we get addicted to that high.

510
00:23:00,630 --> 00:23:03,057
So every time we get a piece of communication, it's a high.

511
00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:05,217
I think people are always scared of new technology

512
00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:06,937
when it first comes in 'cause we're not really sure

513
00:23:06,980 --> 00:23:09,187
what effect it's gonna have on us long-term.

514
00:23:09,230 --> 00:23:10,347
Because of the portability

515
00:23:10,390 --> 00:23:11,617
of the technology behind these phones,

516
00:23:11,660 --> 00:23:13,257
they are different than these other devices,

517
00:23:13,300 --> 00:23:14,627
and I think it's something we should definitely

518
00:23:14,670 --> 00:23:15,783
be concerned about.

519
00:23:21,620 --> 00:23:24,600
- I had to finally delete, not deactivate my Facebook,

520
00:23:24,643 --> 00:23:28,373
because I found myself mindlessly logging into it.

521
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,197
Leaving became a positive thing for me, though.

522
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,377
I was more clear-headed and relaxed,

523
00:23:34,420 --> 00:23:37,433
not constantly feeling the urge to check my phone.

524
00:23:38,270 --> 00:23:40,267
I even started reading fiction again,

525
00:23:40,310 --> 00:23:42,057
which I had not done in years.

526
00:23:42,100 --> 00:23:44,247
My wife, however, was having issues

527
00:23:44,290 --> 00:23:45,807
with cutting back her use

528
00:23:45,850 --> 00:23:49,287
with the out-of-sight-out-of-mind method.

529
00:23:49,330 --> 00:23:50,597
- I've been trying to just be more aware

530
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,237
to not be on the phone as much when I'm around the kids,

531
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,217
and I do really well for a couple days and then I just get

532
00:23:58,260 --> 00:23:59,437
right back into old habits. (pensive music)

533
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,277
I always see something flicking on my phone

534
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,963
or I hear a bing and then I go check it.

535
00:24:06,830 --> 00:24:08,523
It's just this revolving cycle.

536
00:24:10,390 --> 00:24:12,947
- [Jon] If someone is diagnosed with screen addiction,

537
00:24:12,990 --> 00:24:14,063
where can they go?

538
00:24:18,740 --> 00:24:21,937
I traveled to Seattle, home to reSTART,

539
00:24:21,980 --> 00:24:25,347
one of the first internet and gaming treatment centers,

540
00:24:25,390 --> 00:24:28,593
founded in 2009 by Hilarie Cash.

541
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,107
- It's a problem, for sure.

542
00:24:33,150 --> 00:24:35,637
And whether or not you call it an addiction

543
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,497
or you don't call it an addiction,

544
00:24:37,540 --> 00:24:40,243
at least let's call it a problem, which is what it is.

545
00:24:41,740 --> 00:24:44,997
We're right now at Heaven's Field,

546
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,347
which is the Fall City campus

547
00:24:47,390 --> 00:24:49,693
for the adult program, phase one.

548
00:24:51,050 --> 00:24:54,867
They spend time getting healthy while they're here.

549
00:24:54,910 --> 00:24:56,107
They're away from screens

550
00:24:56,150 --> 00:24:58,473
so they can go through that detox process.

551
00:24:59,790 --> 00:25:01,397
We have a fitness program.

552
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,157
They're out in nature.

553
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,017
They're in a safe, social environment.

554
00:25:07,060 --> 00:25:10,197
They're getting lots of psycho-education.

555
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,623
They're getting individual counseling.

556
00:25:14,220 --> 00:25:17,957
I mean, we are human animals designed, obviously,

557
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,547
for our brains to respond to pleasurable things,

558
00:25:21,590 --> 00:25:23,997
and that's a dopamine response.

559
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,267
There's nothing wrong with having a dopamine response

560
00:25:26,310 --> 00:25:27,717
and experiencing pleasure,

561
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,410
and life would be horrible if that weren't happening.

562
00:25:31,350 --> 00:25:34,317
But when there's an overstimulation,

563
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,617
it's too much of a good thing,

564
00:25:36,660 --> 00:25:40,117
and the brain has to down-regulate in response to that,

565
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,107
that's when it crosses the line

566
00:25:42,150 --> 00:25:45,563
into an addiction. (rain spattering)

567
00:25:47,230 --> 00:25:50,557
- My main issue was my phone screen, mainly,

568
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:55,600
and a few of the PC and Xbox consoles.

569
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,523
It affected school life very heavily.

570
00:25:59,470 --> 00:26:01,587
I know I didn't do too well in college.

571
00:26:01,630 --> 00:26:05,647
I dropped out the first semester because of the addiction.

572
00:26:05,690 --> 00:26:09,359
It really, really brings down on your whole life.

573
00:26:09,402 --> 00:26:10,787
(rain spattering)

574
00:26:10,830 --> 00:26:12,447
- Squandering a lot of opportunities

575
00:26:12,490 --> 00:26:14,700
to really grow emotionally

576
00:26:15,650 --> 00:26:20,577
because I was substituting video games and technology

577
00:26:20,620 --> 00:26:23,297
for meaningful interactions with people.

578
00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:27,877
And I found that, for me, there's a lot of stressful factors

579
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:31,967
that, when you actually dive into what addiction looks like,

580
00:26:32,010 --> 00:26:34,337
the same things that people talk about,

581
00:26:34,380 --> 00:26:38,467
going through withdrawal for tobacco or alcohol,

582
00:26:38,510 --> 00:26:40,777
I go to those meetings and I feel those exact same things

583
00:26:40,820 --> 00:26:42,837
about my use of tech.

584
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,117
- What companies want is our attention,

585
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,617
because if they hold our attention,

586
00:26:47,660 --> 00:26:49,447
then they can sell us stuff.

587
00:26:49,490 --> 00:26:51,567
You can't hold people's attention

588
00:26:51,610 --> 00:26:54,097
if you don't design it to be addictive,

589
00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:57,217
so the two go hand in hand.

590
00:26:57,260 --> 00:26:58,147
- I didn't know how much

591
00:26:58,190 --> 00:27:01,003
I was just looking down at the world.

592
00:27:01,046 --> 00:27:02,027
I was looking down.

593
00:27:02,070 --> 00:27:05,213
I wasn't, you know, you miss out on so much.

594
00:27:06,390 --> 00:27:09,297
Now that I'm not really, I don't use anything,

595
00:27:09,340 --> 00:27:12,727
I can see everyone and what they're doing,

596
00:27:12,770 --> 00:27:15,263
and you can see them on it all day long.

597
00:27:17,170 --> 00:27:19,267
- I think we are entering a health crisis

598
00:27:19,310 --> 00:27:21,073
and we're asleep at the wheel.

599
00:27:22,230 --> 00:27:24,827
The evidence is actually really strong

600
00:27:24,870 --> 00:27:28,547
that, in early childhood,

601
00:27:28,590 --> 00:27:32,783
interactive screens are absolutely mesmerizing for children,

602
00:27:33,710 --> 00:27:36,667
and interactive screens are the ones

603
00:27:36,710 --> 00:27:40,367
that have the highest potential for addiction.

604
00:27:40,410 --> 00:27:42,307
- I won't argue

605
00:27:42,350 --> 00:27:45,677
about what Hilarie's adult patients are doing.

606
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:47,367
What I am concerned about

607
00:27:47,410 --> 00:27:51,017
is that the moment you use the word addiction,

608
00:27:51,060 --> 00:27:54,147
98% of parents are going to say, "That's not my kid."

609
00:27:55,250 --> 00:27:58,327
And they're gonna let it go until it ends up

610
00:27:58,370 --> 00:28:00,797
to that final common pathway.

611
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,117
I wanna get to that kid when he's having problems

612
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,007
because I want to help that parent recognize

613
00:28:07,050 --> 00:28:11,157
that this is not just their kid being a pain in the butt.

614
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,217
This is their kid who's really struggling

615
00:28:13,260 --> 00:28:17,207
with the ability to regulate his or her behavior

616
00:28:17,250 --> 00:28:20,897
in the digital environment. (mellow guitar music)

617
00:28:20,940 --> 00:28:22,707
- [Jon] I was worried about my kids,

618
00:28:22,750 --> 00:28:25,517
so my wife and I decided to limit screen time

619
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,377
to just the weekends.

620
00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:30,336
At first, the kids were not fans.

621
00:28:30,379 --> 00:28:33,377
But when confronted with not being able to go to the screen,

622
00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:35,657
something wonderful happened.

623
00:28:35,700 --> 00:28:37,607
Boredom took over.

624
00:28:37,650 --> 00:28:40,127
And a child never really sits still.

625
00:28:40,170 --> 00:28:42,357
They start to create, play,

626
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,723
and let their imaginations run wild.

627
00:28:46,261 --> 00:28:50,137
- It turns out that psychologists and neuroscientists

628
00:28:50,180 --> 00:28:52,587
who have studied boredom have found out

629
00:28:52,630 --> 00:28:56,287
that, actually, our brains do an awful lot of amazing things

630
00:28:56,330 --> 00:28:58,957
in those moments when we're not concentrating

631
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,327
on anything in particular.

632
00:29:01,370 --> 00:29:03,487
Psychologists call that mind-wandering.

633
00:29:03,530 --> 00:29:06,757
And I think that one of the things that we risk

634
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,797
when we eliminate boredom

635
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,857
is that we actually eliminate a lot of opportunity

636
00:29:11,900 --> 00:29:15,687
for thinking about the future, for making sense of the past,

637
00:29:15,730 --> 00:29:20,097
and we crowd out a time that can be

638
00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:23,983
some of the most innovative and creative times in our lives.

639
00:29:25,350 --> 00:29:29,237
Even people like Albert Einstein or Pablo Picasso

640
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,567
or Charles Darwin were very conscious

641
00:29:32,610 --> 00:29:36,337
about how some of the best ideas came to them

642
00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:40,363
in these long periods when they let their minds just wander.

643
00:29:47,070 --> 00:29:48,527
- [Jon] Dr. Nicholas Kardaras

644
00:29:48,570 --> 00:29:52,007
has been studying children and screens for some time now,

645
00:29:52,050 --> 00:29:55,167
so I met up with him in New York at one of his speeches

646
00:29:55,210 --> 00:29:58,137
to get his take on what effects these apps and games

647
00:29:58,180 --> 00:29:59,493
were having on our kids.

648
00:30:01,020 --> 00:30:02,287
Why did you get into this?

649
00:30:02,330 --> 00:30:04,737
What brought you into looking into smartphone addiction?

650
00:30:04,780 --> 00:30:06,927
- I was working as an addiction psychologist,

651
00:30:06,970 --> 00:30:08,917
working with substance addiction, primarily,

652
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,437
and then I had a young man

653
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,227
who seemed to have a psychotic break

654
00:30:12,270 --> 00:30:14,787
that was related to video game addiction.

655
00:30:14,830 --> 00:30:16,427
That was an eye-opener for me.

656
00:30:16,470 --> 00:30:18,247
And then that's when I started digging.

657
00:30:18,290 --> 00:30:19,417
And then, as a parent,

658
00:30:19,460 --> 00:30:21,347
I started becoming really more concerned,

659
00:30:21,390 --> 00:30:22,507
and more angry, quite honestly.

660
00:30:22,550 --> 00:30:25,157
I started seeing that this was not addiction by accident.

661
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:26,887
This was addiction by design.

662
00:30:26,930 --> 00:30:28,167
It's changing your kid's brain.

663
00:30:28,210 --> 00:30:31,237
It's rewiring your children developmentally, neurologically.

664
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,467
It's clinically impacting your kids in ways

665
00:30:33,510 --> 00:30:36,197
that you and I never even suspected 10 years ago.

666
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,227
So it's damaging. (somber music)

667
00:30:37,270 --> 00:30:38,887
We're creating a generation

668
00:30:38,930 --> 00:30:42,597
of predisposed, addictive young people.

669
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,977
And it doesn't necessarily have to be towards screens now,

670
00:30:45,020 --> 00:30:47,227
'cause now they're wired for dopamine hits,

671
00:30:47,270 --> 00:30:49,767
so they can be predisposed now towards substance addiction.

672
00:30:49,810 --> 00:30:52,487
But we're also developmentally damaging those kids,

673
00:30:52,530 --> 00:30:54,537
so we're seeing that their creativity,

674
00:30:54,580 --> 00:30:56,297
we're seeing that their attention abilities,

675
00:30:56,340 --> 00:30:58,487
we're seeing that their cognitive abilities.

676
00:30:58,530 --> 00:31:00,627
So we're damaging them on the front end

677
00:31:00,670 --> 00:31:03,017
and we're priming them for addiction lifelong.

678
00:31:03,060 --> 00:31:03,917
That's what we're doing.

679
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:05,187
We've been asleep at the switch,

680
00:31:05,230 --> 00:31:07,457
so we've let five-year-olds have it.

681
00:31:07,500 --> 00:31:08,606
We wouldn't let five-year-olds gamble.

682
00:31:08,649 --> 00:31:10,637
We wouldn't let five-year-olds do cocaine.

683
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,677
But because we've been under-aware,

684
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,397
we've exposed this whole generation

685
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,197
to this highly compulsive and habit-forming,

686
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,147
addictive experiences.

687
00:31:20,190 --> 00:31:22,047
Sean Parker, the original founder,

688
00:31:22,090 --> 00:31:24,604
or president, rather, of Facebook, I mean, he said it.

689
00:31:24,647 --> 00:31:25,884
"We did it by design.

690
00:31:25,927 --> 00:31:26,897
"We knew what we were doing."

691
00:31:26,940 --> 00:31:29,584
And he said, quote, "God knows what this is doing

692
00:31:29,627 --> 00:31:31,287
"to children's brains."

693
00:31:31,330 --> 00:31:32,807
But God and some neuroscientists,

694
00:31:32,850 --> 00:31:34,727
we do know what this is doing to children's brains,

695
00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:35,733
and it's not good.

696
00:31:38,330 --> 00:31:41,497
(pensive piano music)

697
00:31:45,050 --> 00:31:48,367
- My lab focuses on children birth to five,

698
00:31:48,410 --> 00:31:51,297
and what are actionable strategies

699
00:31:51,340 --> 00:31:52,987
to optimize children's cognitive,

700
00:31:53,030 --> 00:31:54,137
social, and emotional development.

701
00:31:54,180 --> 00:31:57,697
One of the things that we know is that children that age

702
00:31:57,740 --> 00:32:02,277
spend about five hours a day with media of all types.

703
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:03,837
And keep in mind that children that age

704
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,127
are only awake for about 12 hours a day.

705
00:32:06,170 --> 00:32:08,307
So they're spending about 50%,

706
00:32:08,350 --> 00:32:10,507
40% to 50% of their waking hours

707
00:32:10,550 --> 00:32:13,177
somehow engaged with screens.

708
00:32:13,220 --> 00:32:15,287
We've seen the age

709
00:32:15,330 --> 00:32:17,417
at which children begin to use screens go down

710
00:32:17,460 --> 00:32:19,460
and the amount of time they spend go up.

711
00:32:20,340 --> 00:32:22,967
You'll see that they're already developing

712
00:32:23,010 --> 00:32:26,797
what we might call a compulsive use if not an addictive use.

713
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,527
If I take a high chair

714
00:32:28,570 --> 00:32:30,777
and I put a six-month-old on that high chair,

715
00:32:30,820 --> 00:32:32,627
and I put a few toys on that,

716
00:32:32,670 --> 00:32:34,877
on the table in front of the high chair,

717
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,197
what's the first thing that child's gonna do?

718
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:38,867
They're gonna push that over

719
00:32:38,910 --> 00:32:40,887
and they're gonna delight in it.

720
00:32:40,930 --> 00:32:43,237
They'll laugh because they made something happen.

721
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,077
And then their parent will come and they'll put the toy back

722
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:47,747
and the child will do it again.

723
00:32:47,790 --> 00:32:51,377
What's being triggered there is what we call

724
00:32:51,420 --> 00:32:53,457
the dopamine reward pathway,

725
00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:56,157
which is to say that they make something happen,

726
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:57,667
it gives them pleasure,

727
00:32:57,710 --> 00:33:00,751
and their inclination is to do it again.

728
00:33:00,794 --> 00:33:04,377
(chuckling) And, in fact, they would do that infinitely.

729
00:33:04,420 --> 00:33:06,597
That game only stops when the parent decides

730
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,587
we're not putting the toy back up there anymore;

731
00:33:08,630 --> 00:33:10,877
we are gonna move on to something else.

732
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,007
We see the same kind of experience with an iPad,

733
00:33:13,050 --> 00:33:16,417
except an iPad doesn't set conditions on which we...

734
00:33:16,460 --> 00:33:17,997
We don't have stoppage rules around it

735
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:19,497
unless parents impose them.

736
00:33:19,540 --> 00:33:21,497
So the experience a child can have

737
00:33:21,540 --> 00:33:24,497
of pushing something and making something happen,

738
00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:26,327
it's incredibly gratifying.

739
00:33:26,370 --> 00:33:28,507
What we find is that many of these games

740
00:33:28,550 --> 00:33:31,297
activate that same pathway quite deliberately,

741
00:33:31,340 --> 00:33:32,987
and they can do it in excess,

742
00:33:33,030 --> 00:33:36,517
and they can do it without consequence.

743
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,357
And that is the basis for developing

744
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,847
behavioral, habitual addictions.

745
00:33:41,890 --> 00:33:44,383
At least compulsions if not true addictions.

746
00:33:47,230 --> 00:33:50,463
- [Jon] Most things in our lives have a natural endpoint.

747
00:33:51,420 --> 00:33:54,987
When we read a book, there are chapters and paragraphs

748
00:33:55,030 --> 00:33:56,785
and ideas that end.

749
00:33:56,828 --> 00:33:57,877
(audience applauding)

750
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:02,487
When we watch a show, film, or theater, it comes to a stop.

751
00:34:02,530 --> 00:34:04,843
In life, these are known as stoppage cues.

752
00:34:06,060 --> 00:34:07,507
- They actually are very good for us.

753
00:34:07,550 --> 00:34:08,340
We need those cues to tell us

754
00:34:08,382 --> 00:34:11,067
that it's time to interact with your loved ones

755
00:34:11,110 --> 00:34:14,786
or go outside, do some exercise, do something different.

756
00:34:14,830 --> 00:34:17,397
The companies that make the experiences we engage with today

757
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,237
are excellent at eradicating stopping cues.

758
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,246
Basically, you are not getting any of the feedback

759
00:34:22,290 --> 00:34:24,277
that says it's time to move on.

760
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,607
- [Jon] The feed on social networks is bottomless.

761
00:34:27,650 --> 00:34:32,056
The video games our children play can have no end in sight.

762
00:34:32,100 --> 00:34:35,623
An open-ended experience that can go on forever.

763
00:34:36,886 --> 00:34:37,927
(somber music)

764
00:34:37,969 --> 00:34:41,347
- I decided I will never interact with experiences

765
00:34:41,389 --> 00:34:42,996
that have no end in sight.

766
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:44,677
So I don't even start, right?

767
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,016
I'll watch movies 'cause I know the movie's gonna be

768
00:34:47,060 --> 00:34:47,967
an hour and a half, two hours.

769
00:34:48,010 --> 00:34:49,597
I know exactly how long it's gonna take.

770
00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:51,286
But I don't start these experience

771
00:34:51,330 --> 00:34:53,380
that I know are designed to keep me coming back

772
00:34:53,424 --> 00:34:55,077
again and again and again and again.

773
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:56,956
Why, because I don't wanna invest in them

774
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,257
with no end in sight.

775
00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:00,527
- [Jon] For us parents,

776
00:35:00,570 --> 00:35:03,787
this is why the screen is the great pacifier.

777
00:35:03,830 --> 00:35:06,547
Whenever we need a minute or an hour,

778
00:35:06,590 --> 00:35:09,947
we can turn it on and get things done.

779
00:35:09,990 --> 00:35:11,787
Our children are instantly hooked

780
00:35:11,830 --> 00:35:14,997
in the endless stimulation it provides.

781
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,857
- What we've done is we've fallen into the easy solution

782
00:35:18,900 --> 00:35:23,627
of the screen as keeping the child quiet and engaged.

783
00:35:23,670 --> 00:35:26,167
One of the interesting things you wanna look at is,

784
00:35:26,210 --> 00:35:28,057
what are the guys who are engineering this

785
00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:29,400
doing with their children?

786
00:35:30,340 --> 00:35:31,187
Right.

787
00:35:31,230 --> 00:35:34,807
Steve Jobs never gave his kids iPads.

788
00:35:34,850 --> 00:35:36,150
There's a reason for that.

789
00:35:43,580 --> 00:35:45,137
- A lot of the tech giants

790
00:35:45,180 --> 00:35:47,017
are much more careful about what they do at home

791
00:35:47,060 --> 00:35:50,027
than what they're suggesting people should do publicly.

792
00:35:50,070 --> 00:35:50,907
The Waldorf School,

793
00:35:50,950 --> 00:35:53,037
known as the Waldorf School of the Peninsula,

794
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,977
which is in the Bay Area, 75% of the kids there

795
00:35:56,020 --> 00:35:58,637
have parents who are Silicon Valley tech execs.

796
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:00,347
This interesting thing about this school

797
00:36:00,390 --> 00:36:01,617
is it's a school that says,

798
00:36:01,660 --> 00:36:03,597
until kids are about 14 years old,

799
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:05,857
we don't introduce them to screens at all.

800
00:36:08,681 --> 00:36:10,014
- [Student] 263.

801
00:36:15,491 --> 00:36:16,544
(students giggle)

802
00:36:16,587 --> 00:36:17,420
- 279?

803
00:36:18,335 --> 00:36:19,125
(students laugh)

804
00:36:19,168 --> 00:36:20,040
- [Student] Oh, that's it, isn't it?

805
00:36:20,083 --> 00:36:21,807
- Several of my class, actually,

806
00:36:21,850 --> 00:36:24,847
(children chattering) are children of parents

807
00:36:24,890 --> 00:36:27,837
who work in the major tech companies.

808
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:31,477
What the tech folks realize

809
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,817
is that, in order to be a good creator,

810
00:36:34,860 --> 00:36:37,493
you have to have had a lot of experience doing that.

811
00:36:38,390 --> 00:36:39,927
As I think about what it is

812
00:36:39,970 --> 00:36:42,697
that the Waldorf School does very, very well

813
00:36:42,740 --> 00:36:47,740
is that we are living and we focus on the young child,

814
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,247
the child as being a living, growing organism.

815
00:36:51,290 --> 00:36:52,617
They need to move.

816
00:36:52,660 --> 00:36:54,377
They need to feel.

817
00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:57,227
They need to grow, to change.

818
00:36:57,270 --> 00:36:58,317
They need to be exposed

819
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,327
to incredible variety of experiences.

820
00:37:01,370 --> 00:37:03,467
And we try to do that in everything

821
00:37:03,510 --> 00:37:05,907
that our school is all about,

822
00:37:05,950 --> 00:37:08,953
so the children are able to live fully.

823
00:37:13,220 --> 00:37:14,437
- A lot of people in the tech industry

824
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:16,230
send their kids to Peninsula School

825
00:37:17,530 --> 00:37:21,707
because we really pride ourselves on preserving childhood.

826
00:37:21,750 --> 00:37:24,527
We have a natural campus.

827
00:37:24,570 --> 00:37:26,017
Kids can climb trees here.

828
00:37:26,060 --> 00:37:28,417
They have a lot of choices throughout their day.

829
00:37:28,460 --> 00:37:29,937
We really pride ourselves also

830
00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:31,837
on those authentic interactions.

831
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,997
So I think we're really unique in Silicon Valley.

832
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,267
And I think, because we don't have that screen time,

833
00:37:39,310 --> 00:37:41,017
that parents send their kids here

834
00:37:41,060 --> 00:37:42,947
because they want that interaction,

835
00:37:42,990 --> 00:37:44,474
they want that authentic interaction

836
00:37:44,517 --> 00:37:47,198
and they want that face-to-face interaction for their kids.

837
00:37:47,241 --> 00:37:49,137
(children chattering)

838
00:37:49,180 --> 00:37:50,687
- Tech, of course, wants to build

839
00:37:50,730 --> 00:37:54,127
a future consumer for their products.

840
00:37:54,170 --> 00:37:56,854
We have to stand up and say, "That's fine.

841
00:37:56,897 --> 00:37:58,464
"You can sell computers to our children

842
00:37:58,507 --> 00:38:00,324
"when they get to be 14 or 15

843
00:38:00,367 --> 00:38:03,174
"or however old we decide they should be.

844
00:38:03,217 --> 00:38:06,214
"But our children, our young children are going to learn

845
00:38:06,257 --> 00:38:08,824
"through doing, through being with human beings,

846
00:38:08,867 --> 00:38:10,470
"through being active in the world,

847
00:38:10,513 --> 00:38:13,117
"and that does not involve screens right now."

848
00:38:17,100 --> 00:38:19,000
- [Jon] My kids will be teens one day.

849
00:38:20,030 --> 00:38:23,623
And if they end up acting like I did, I'm already terrified.

850
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,607
It's been one year and 20 years since I was a teen,

851
00:38:30,650 --> 00:38:32,597
so I'm pretty sure I'm out of touch

852
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,193
with the digital world they are growing up in.

853
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,797
So I talked with them and professionals

854
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,693
to gain a better understanding of this world.

855
00:38:44,860 --> 00:38:45,650
- All they talk about at lunch is,

856
00:38:45,693 --> 00:38:46,483
- Is Fortnite. - "Oh my gosh,

857
00:38:46,526 --> 00:38:49,057
"to get to level," yeah, Fortnite, this game.

858
00:38:49,100 --> 00:38:50,333
It's a really bad game.

859
00:38:51,198 --> 00:38:53,297
- Everyone's addicted to it. - I think it's 18 and up,

860
00:38:53,340 --> 00:38:54,467
but you know kids don't listen

861
00:38:54,510 --> 00:38:55,756
to that kind of stuff. - But it's free also,

862
00:38:55,799 --> 00:38:58,297
so if you have, what is it on, Xbox?

863
00:38:58,340 --> 00:38:59,583
- Yes, Xbox. - If you have an Xbox,

864
00:38:59,626 --> 00:39:01,147
you have it.

865
00:39:01,190 --> 00:39:02,684
The game comes with it. - Mm-hmm.

866
00:39:02,727 --> 00:39:04,217
And that's all they talk about at lunch,

867
00:39:04,260 --> 00:39:06,187
like, "Oh my gosh, I just got to level 24."

868
00:39:06,230 --> 00:39:08,016
I was like, "Do you have a life?"

869
00:39:08,059 --> 00:39:09,257
(blonde girl giggles)

870
00:39:09,300 --> 00:39:10,637
- My name's Jean Twenge.

871
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,187
I'm professor of psychology at San Diego State

872
00:39:13,230 --> 00:39:14,827
and the author of the book, "iGen."

873
00:39:14,870 --> 00:39:17,577
- I loved your speech, and I love the title of your book.

874
00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:20,795
Maybe you can tell me about, you know, what's iGen.

875
00:39:20,838 --> 00:39:21,696
And then you got some good

876
00:39:21,739 --> 00:39:22,704
and you got some bad in your title

877
00:39:22,747 --> 00:39:23,647
so if you can elaborate - (chuckling) Yeah.

878
00:39:23,690 --> 00:39:26,327
- on that a bit? - Yeah, iGen is the generation

879
00:39:26,370 --> 00:39:28,827
born 1995 and later.

880
00:39:28,870 --> 00:39:29,927
They're the first generation

881
00:39:29,970 --> 00:39:33,687
to spend their entire adolescence with smartphones,

882
00:39:33,730 --> 00:39:34,817
and that's had ripple effects

883
00:39:34,860 --> 00:39:37,957
across many areas of their lives.

884
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,637
On the upside, they have a very strong work ethic,

885
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,177
they're very practical,

886
00:39:42,220 --> 00:39:45,367
and they're very good at keeping themselves safe.

887
00:39:45,410 --> 00:39:47,237
It's good that iGen teens are safe,

888
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,417
but it also means, as some have argued,

889
00:39:49,460 --> 00:39:50,390
they might be too safe.

890
00:39:50,433 --> 00:39:53,677
They might not be having those independent experiences

891
00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:57,317
which can help them as they grow to adulthood.

892
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:58,917
- The screens are not neutral,

893
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:00,987
that they are gonna affect your child.

894
00:40:01,030 --> 00:40:03,187
So we know that if they're on a screen

895
00:40:03,230 --> 00:40:05,527
for even five hours during the school day,

896
00:40:05,570 --> 00:40:07,117
that, when they get home,

897
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,007
there really isn't room for any more screen time.

898
00:40:10,050 --> 00:40:13,387
My oldest son, Adam,

899
00:40:13,430 --> 00:40:15,557
when he was in middle school and high school,

900
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,617
he became addicted to video games right under my nose,

901
00:40:18,660 --> 00:40:20,007
and I didn't even know it was going on.

902
00:40:20,050 --> 00:40:21,250
We didn't see it coming.

903
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:23,387
There's no way.

904
00:40:23,430 --> 00:40:26,527
So we started Families Managing Media

905
00:40:26,570 --> 00:40:28,707
as a direct result of that experience.

906
00:40:28,750 --> 00:40:30,407
I have a nursing degree from Emory,

907
00:40:30,450 --> 00:40:31,994
I used to do a lot of research,

908
00:40:32,037 --> 00:40:33,537
and what I see my goal

909
00:40:33,580 --> 00:40:35,977
is to take all that medical information

910
00:40:36,020 --> 00:40:39,127
and put it in a simple format so parents can understand it,

911
00:40:39,170 --> 00:40:42,387
and, quite frankly, it's what I wish I had known

912
00:40:42,430 --> 00:40:44,847
back when I was trying to figure this out.

913
00:40:44,890 --> 00:40:47,247
It causes brain changes, (pensive music)

914
00:40:47,290 --> 00:40:50,517
and that's not to be sensational or scary.

915
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:51,407
It just does.

916
00:40:51,450 --> 00:40:53,437
It stimulates the limbic system.

917
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,987
It stimulates the amygdala and the fight/flight.

918
00:40:56,030 --> 00:40:57,419
It stimulated all that.

919
00:40:57,462 --> 00:40:59,967
It falls under that electronic screen syndrome.

920
00:41:00,010 --> 00:41:02,267
And what makes it a syndrome

921
00:41:02,310 --> 00:41:06,867
is when the child depends on this for their daily routine.

922
00:41:06,910 --> 00:41:10,344
- Time online among teens has doubled since 2006,

923
00:41:10,387 --> 00:41:12,417
and if you total the amount of time

924
00:41:12,460 --> 00:41:13,347
that teens say they spend

925
00:41:13,390 --> 00:41:16,027
texting online and on social media,

926
00:41:16,070 --> 00:41:18,577
just through activities and just during leisure time,

927
00:41:18,620 --> 00:41:21,983
not counting homework, it adds up to six hours a day.

928
00:41:23,030 --> 00:41:24,267
That's just through activities, though.

929
00:41:24,310 --> 00:41:26,767
More comprehensive surveys have concluded

930
00:41:26,810 --> 00:41:29,657
it's more like eight or even nine hours a day.

931
00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:32,617
Depression, suicide, self-harm,

932
00:41:32,660 --> 00:41:37,027
all of them started to increase right around 2011 or 2012.

933
00:41:37,070 --> 00:41:39,017
That's exactly when the smartphone became common,

934
00:41:39,060 --> 00:41:40,723
so the time sequence lines up.

935
00:41:46,220 --> 00:41:47,827
- It is part of them, it is part of them.

936
00:41:47,870 --> 00:41:49,987
And when you speak to them and ask them, you know,

937
00:41:50,030 --> 00:41:53,163
what it's like when they don't have their cell phones,

938
00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,074
they say, "I feel lost.

939
00:41:56,117 --> 00:41:57,654
"I feel disconnected.

940
00:41:57,697 --> 00:42:00,077
"I don't know what to do with myself."

941
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,617
It's an ongoing issue that we discuss regularly

942
00:42:03,660 --> 00:42:05,867
in staff meetings.

943
00:42:05,910 --> 00:42:08,347
Teachers are frustrated.

944
00:42:08,390 --> 00:42:10,697
We're not sure what to do.

945
00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:12,727
- Oh, if I were to get off of social media,

946
00:42:12,770 --> 00:42:16,217
I feel like I would be spaced out from all my friends

947
00:42:16,260 --> 00:42:17,767
and I wouldn't be connected with them

948
00:42:17,810 --> 00:42:20,367
as much as I could be with the phone.

949
00:42:20,410 --> 00:42:23,387
Which I know is bad to say, but it's true.

950
00:42:23,430 --> 00:42:25,337
- Everything is on the phone.

951
00:42:25,380 --> 00:42:27,567
If you wanna plan something, it's already on the phone.

952
00:42:27,610 --> 00:42:29,307
If you wanna watch something, it's on the phone.

953
00:42:29,350 --> 00:42:31,732
So you don't need to go out when it's already there for you.

954
00:42:31,775 --> 00:42:33,927
(pensive music) - There are some people who,

955
00:42:33,970 --> 00:42:36,097
since between 6th grade and now,

956
00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:37,887
they've become so more socially awkward

957
00:42:37,930 --> 00:42:39,554
since they started using social media

958
00:42:39,597 --> 00:42:41,557
and have distanced themselves from a lot of people.

959
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,087
- It's common to see five or six students

960
00:42:44,130 --> 00:42:46,377
hanging around, socializing with one another,

961
00:42:46,420 --> 00:42:49,557
but not speaking to one another, not looking at each other.

962
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:51,827
They've got their earbuds in their ears

963
00:42:51,870 --> 00:42:53,287
and their eyes on their phones,

964
00:42:53,330 --> 00:42:55,647
and they're essentially ignoring one another

965
00:42:55,690 --> 00:42:56,757
in their presence.

966
00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:58,817
- Today's kids may grow up not knowing

967
00:42:58,860 --> 00:43:00,987
how to just interact (chuckling) face-to-face with people

968
00:43:01,030 --> 00:43:02,977
in an authentic way,

969
00:43:03,020 --> 00:43:07,277
and to be able to read other folks' facial expressions

970
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,613
or even the way that they wanna communicate.

971
00:43:10,940 --> 00:43:14,847
- When the kids come to see me, they're on their devices

972
00:43:14,890 --> 00:43:17,747
six, seven, eight, nine hours the day,

973
00:43:17,790 --> 00:43:19,647
and their parents aren't parenting them,

974
00:43:19,690 --> 00:43:22,727
and so they have unrestricted access to whatever,

975
00:43:22,770 --> 00:43:24,937
meaning their hours aren't set up.

976
00:43:24,980 --> 00:43:26,997
The characteristics that these kids feature

977
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:28,897
is that they can't make the eye contact.

978
00:43:28,940 --> 00:43:33,777
Their body language is really all closed off.

979
00:43:33,820 --> 00:43:35,777
A lot of them don't have true relationships

980
00:43:35,820 --> 00:43:37,707
outside their devices.

981
00:43:37,750 --> 00:43:39,307
- When they wake up every morning,

982
00:43:39,350 --> 00:43:41,007
they are building their brand.

983
00:43:41,050 --> 00:43:43,947
They're thinking 24 hours a day

984
00:43:43,990 --> 00:43:46,387
about what their brand is

985
00:43:46,430 --> 00:43:49,347
to their friends and to their public.

986
00:43:49,390 --> 00:43:53,727
A child really believes that their biggest goal in life

987
00:43:53,770 --> 00:43:55,277
is to be (laughing) famous.

988
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,107
They wanna be famous and they wanna make money on YouTube.

989
00:43:58,150 --> 00:44:00,297
Those are the two things they're really concerned about.

990
00:44:00,340 --> 00:44:02,547
- They wanna fit in so badly

991
00:44:02,590 --> 00:44:04,317
that they'll change themselves

992
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,637
to become someone who they're not on social media,

993
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:10,580
so it is like forcing them to grow up.

994
00:44:11,931 --> 00:44:15,967
- It's just like a pressure to be perfect all the time,

995
00:44:16,010 --> 00:44:17,177
which is just false.

996
00:44:17,220 --> 00:44:19,687
Like you have to have the perfect picture,

997
00:44:19,730 --> 00:44:20,917
the perfect place.

998
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,827
You always have to be doing something.

999
00:44:23,870 --> 00:44:26,477
- It's not that important to look perfect on Instagram.

1000
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,802
I just, I want to look good on Instagram.

1001
00:44:30,845 --> 00:44:33,017
(laughs)

1002
00:44:33,060 --> 00:44:35,067
- They're worried about all their selfies.

1003
00:44:35,110 --> 00:44:38,167
They're worried about how this is all being presented

1004
00:44:38,210 --> 00:44:40,767
to their social media platform.

1005
00:44:40,810 --> 00:44:43,127
This is a very stressful way to live.

1006
00:44:43,170 --> 00:44:47,033
- My internet persona, which was everything's fine,

1007
00:44:47,970 --> 00:44:51,557
I look happy, I look healthy, I'm happy with who I am.

1008
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:54,397
But then there's the real part of me

1009
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:58,603
that was depressed, anxious all the time, barely eating,

1010
00:44:59,870 --> 00:45:02,417
doing things to myself that I never thought I'd be doing,

1011
00:45:02,460 --> 00:45:05,467
thinking that I wanted to die,

1012
00:45:05,510 --> 00:45:08,497
and just things that you would not see

1013
00:45:08,540 --> 00:45:10,343
in an Instagram picture.

1014
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:13,467
- I think they're overwhelmed,

1015
00:45:13,510 --> 00:45:15,407
and I think they don't know it.

1016
00:45:15,450 --> 00:45:20,450
I think they are so connected all the time,

1017
00:45:20,530 --> 00:45:21,767
they don't know how to relax.

1018
00:45:21,810 --> 00:45:23,057
- Some days, if I'm doing homework

1019
00:45:23,100 --> 00:45:25,037
or if I'm just reading a book for English class

1020
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,277
and I get a text, put the book down, answer that real fast.

1021
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:29,137
Then I try to read again

1022
00:45:29,180 --> 00:45:30,917
but another text comes in right away.

1023
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:33,767
- And then you're on other things and you get off-task

1024
00:45:33,810 --> 00:45:35,387
and you just never go back to it.

1025
00:45:35,430 --> 00:45:36,997
- You try to have two conversations at once

1026
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:38,887
and see if you can remember everything that's going on.

1027
00:45:38,930 --> 00:45:39,727
You can't.

1028
00:45:39,770 --> 00:45:41,147
That's what multitasking is.

1029
00:45:41,190 --> 00:45:42,467
- When you're doing two things at once,

1030
00:45:42,510 --> 00:45:44,297
two visual tasks at once,

1031
00:45:44,340 --> 00:45:45,807
what your brain is doing

1032
00:45:45,850 --> 00:45:48,067
is oscillating between the two of them.

1033
00:45:48,110 --> 00:45:51,687
And the young, nimble mind can do that quite well,

1034
00:45:51,730 --> 00:45:54,717
in a way that seems as if they're simultaneously

1035
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:56,687
doing their homework, checking Facebook,

1036
00:45:56,730 --> 00:45:58,657
and updating their Instagram.

1037
00:45:58,700 --> 00:46:00,307
But, in fact, they're doing it at a cost.

1038
00:46:00,350 --> 00:46:03,197
It's inefficient to switch back and forth that many times

1039
00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:04,877
between that many different processes.

1040
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,070
- I think they're really having a hard time

1041
00:46:08,100 --> 00:46:11,677
getting done everything that is expected of them to get done

1042
00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:13,817
and stay connected 24/7.

1043
00:46:13,860 --> 00:46:15,763
'Cause they are connected 24/7.

1044
00:46:17,130 --> 00:46:20,287
If you were to teach a first-period class,

1045
00:46:20,330 --> 00:46:23,117
the amount of kids who are late regularly

1046
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:24,277
because they've slept in,

1047
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,948
because they were up all night on their phone, is enormous.

1048
00:46:27,991 --> 00:46:29,637
(pensive digital music) - I'm always on my phone

1049
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:32,597
at night just to stay on it and be on it for no reason.

1050
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:33,934
Like the other night, I was just on it,

1051
00:46:33,977 --> 00:46:37,847
just looking at pictures till three in the morning,

1052
00:46:37,890 --> 00:46:39,557
just 'cause I couldn't go to bed.

1053
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:41,767
You just are scrolling and people are still up

1054
00:46:41,810 --> 00:46:43,417
and you just look at pictures.

1055
00:46:43,460 --> 00:46:46,787
- Sleep is just crucial for mental health

1056
00:46:46,830 --> 00:46:48,267
and for physical health,

1057
00:46:48,310 --> 00:46:51,257
and teens need more of it than adults do, not less.

1058
00:46:51,300 --> 00:46:53,217
They need about nine hours a night.

1059
00:46:53,260 --> 00:46:56,519
And fewer and fewer are getting the sleep that they need.

1060
00:46:56,562 --> 00:46:59,557
One reason is because a lot of them

1061
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:02,857
are looking at their phone right before they go to bed.

1062
00:47:02,900 --> 00:47:04,003
But, even more serious, some of them

1063
00:47:04,046 --> 00:47:05,877
are looking at their phones in the middle of the night

1064
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,187
or staying up late or staying up all night

1065
00:47:08,230 --> 00:47:11,677
because the phone is so tempting and they can't put it down.

1066
00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:14,777
- Each night, I try to go to bed around 12 o'clock

1067
00:47:14,820 --> 00:47:16,187
because homework will keep me up

1068
00:47:16,230 --> 00:47:18,007
and then just other things I need to do.

1069
00:47:18,050 --> 00:47:20,867
But then maybe I'll go on Instagram

1070
00:47:20,910 --> 00:47:23,617
for, like he said, five minutes, 10 minutes,

1071
00:47:23,660 --> 00:47:24,617
thinking that it's only gonna be

1072
00:47:24,660 --> 00:47:25,787
for five minutes or 10 minutes,

1073
00:47:25,830 --> 00:47:28,997
but there's just this constant flow of new information,

1074
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:30,957
information that really doesn't matter,

1075
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:32,357
but that just keeps me hooked

1076
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:33,487
and I stay up later than I should.

1077
00:47:33,530 --> 00:47:35,031
And then I wake up the next morning

1078
00:47:35,074 --> 00:47:37,873
(laughing) regretting it, and then I do it again that night.

1079
00:47:39,670 --> 00:47:41,303
- They feel anxious.

1080
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:48,520
If we have a student who is in need of some help,

1081
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:52,277
they might wait weeks to see a school social worker,

1082
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:56,633
and that's only because their case loads are so large.

1083
00:47:59,110 --> 00:48:00,347
- I don't think parents are aware

1084
00:48:00,390 --> 00:48:03,977
of the amount of cyberbullying that goes on with it

1085
00:48:04,020 --> 00:48:08,477
and just pressure, all the way around pressure

1086
00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:11,197
from social media.

1087
00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:12,297
- Cyberbullying.

1088
00:48:12,340 --> 00:48:15,157
People can say anything they want online

1089
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:18,327
and don't have the guts to say it in face-to-face.

1090
00:48:18,370 --> 00:48:19,877
- There's also things like Photoshop

1091
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:23,567
that can help you turn into a completely different person,

1092
00:48:23,610 --> 00:48:26,147
so there's people that catfish other people.

1093
00:48:26,190 --> 00:48:28,227
- If you don't do this, then I'm gonna do this.

1094
00:48:28,270 --> 00:48:29,927
I'm gonna capture some pictures from you,

1095
00:48:29,970 --> 00:48:31,677
I'm gonna get you to give me some videos,

1096
00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:32,887
and then I'm gonna blackmail you.

1097
00:48:32,930 --> 00:48:36,607
I'm gonna post them, I'm gonna repost them.

1098
00:48:36,650 --> 00:48:40,427
The way that children use this as a weapon

1099
00:48:40,470 --> 00:48:42,030
is astounding.

1100
00:48:42,073 --> 00:48:44,817
(somber music)

1101
00:48:44,860 --> 00:48:46,717
- We're seeing this confluence

1102
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:48,067
of events, right, where smartphones,

1103
00:48:48,110 --> 00:48:51,697
there's just more and more of them everywhere

1104
00:48:51,740 --> 00:48:53,377
and teenagers are using them more and more,

1105
00:48:53,420 --> 00:48:55,237
and we're also seeing

1106
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:59,047
some troubling data on teen depression.

1107
00:48:59,090 --> 00:49:01,957
Something's going on there because the uptick,

1108
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,827
it's been only in the past four or five years

1109
00:49:03,870 --> 00:49:06,727
but we're starting to see that it's at higher levels

1110
00:49:06,770 --> 00:49:08,983
than it has been for a couple decades.

1111
00:49:12,850 --> 00:49:17,767
- Most concerning of all is that the suicide rate for teens

1112
00:49:17,810 --> 00:49:20,623
has roughly doubled over this time period.

1113
00:49:37,781 --> 00:49:40,607
- It was so scary moment for me.

1114
00:49:40,650 --> 00:49:44,754
I think I wanna lose my life there when I,

1115
00:49:44,797 --> 00:49:48,757
because it looks like she has serious plans

1116
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:50,225
to jump from the window.

1117
00:49:50,268 --> 00:49:55,268
(contemplative music) (father sighs)

1118
00:49:55,450 --> 00:49:58,347
- I just got addicted to the screen

1119
00:49:58,390 --> 00:50:02,217
and just always looking at other people's lives

1120
00:50:02,260 --> 00:50:04,327
and just kinda getting jealous of them.

1121
00:50:04,370 --> 00:50:08,267
Just saw people and how nice their lives were,

1122
00:50:08,310 --> 00:50:12,067
their nice houses, cars, and how much money they have.

1123
00:50:12,110 --> 00:50:13,907
They were basically, I guess, rich,

1124
00:50:13,950 --> 00:50:15,500
and that's what I want in life.

1125
00:50:16,890 --> 00:50:19,597
Sometimes, I don't get any sleep.

1126
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:22,327
Instagram is always on my mind now.

1127
00:50:22,370 --> 00:50:24,070
- She start to spend

1128
00:50:25,210 --> 00:50:28,573
long, long periods of time on the phone.

1129
00:50:29,850 --> 00:50:31,687
We trying to cut it off a little bit

1130
00:50:31,730 --> 00:50:35,817
but we're busy, we're so busy all the time.

1131
00:50:35,860 --> 00:50:40,113
We leave it a little bit and troubles came up.

1132
00:50:42,860 --> 00:50:44,857
- I was on Instagram

1133
00:50:44,900 --> 00:50:48,547
and I searched up

1134
00:50:48,590 --> 00:50:50,757
and I found all these depressing quotes,

1135
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:53,103
and just, they got to me.

1136
00:50:54,180 --> 00:50:56,270
Eventually, I opened my window

1137
00:50:57,250 --> 00:50:59,273
and I was standing on the ledge.

1138
00:51:00,370 --> 00:51:01,827
But my dad was in the balcony

1139
00:51:01,870 --> 00:51:03,800
so he saw me and he told me to stop.

1140
00:51:08,740 --> 00:51:13,547
- I wish that treatment center help a lot.

1141
00:51:13,590 --> 00:51:15,760
- They told me at the treatment center

1142
00:51:17,070 --> 00:51:19,317
that social media

1143
00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:22,207
is, I guess, addicting,

1144
00:51:22,250 --> 00:51:23,687
it's really bad for your brain,

1145
00:51:23,730 --> 00:51:25,763
and we could have so much more in life.

1146
00:51:26,810 --> 00:51:30,587
While I was away from social media,

1147
00:51:30,630 --> 00:51:33,157
I kinda learned more about myself.

1148
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:34,577
I guess I'm talented

1149
00:51:34,620 --> 00:51:37,483
and there is some (chuckling) self-confidence in me.

1150
00:51:40,770 --> 00:51:44,917
My parents tried giving me a flip phone

1151
00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:48,097
and taking my phone away and hiding it and lying to me,

1152
00:51:48,140 --> 00:51:51,677
but I just kept on begging them for my phone.

1153
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:56,267
- She was basically dying to have her phone back,

1154
00:51:56,310 --> 00:51:58,997
so we did, but we put those little conditions.

1155
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:03,307
I know still she can do stuff,

1156
00:52:03,350 --> 00:52:06,033
but we normally check a little bit.

1157
00:52:07,980 --> 00:52:11,267
- My friends did think that I shouldn't have my phone.

1158
00:52:11,310 --> 00:52:13,324
Some of them were saying,

1159
00:52:13,367 --> 00:52:15,687
"I'm gonna tell your dad to take it away."

1160
00:52:15,730 --> 00:52:18,947
I was like, "No, that's not good." (laughs)

1161
00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:23,787
Instagram gave me a lot of pain in my life,

1162
00:52:23,830 --> 00:52:25,157
a lot of insecurity.

1163
00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:27,945
- [Jon] But yet you have it back on your phone again.

1164
00:52:27,988 --> 00:52:32,988
- Yes, I still have Instagram. (chuckles)

1165
00:52:34,660 --> 00:52:38,747
I don't think I'll ever be able to get away from the phone.

1166
00:52:38,790 --> 00:52:41,507
- [Jon] How does it make you feel hearing her say that?

1167
00:52:41,550 --> 00:52:42,523
- Oh, it's sad.

1168
00:52:43,700 --> 00:52:47,293
But I believe we have to work on it together.

1169
00:52:49,340 --> 00:52:52,050
We need to find a way to keep it away

1170
00:52:54,266 --> 00:52:56,553
from the smartphone or the social media.

1171
00:53:01,790 --> 00:53:04,207
- One of the really interesting things

1172
00:53:04,250 --> 00:53:05,567
that I'll do with my patients

1173
00:53:05,610 --> 00:53:09,237
is I'll ask them, "What can Mom or Dad do better?"

1174
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:11,380
when Mom or Dad is out of the room, right?

1175
00:53:12,460 --> 00:53:15,834
More than half of the responses I get from kids is,

1176
00:53:15,877 --> 00:53:17,507
"Pay more attention to me."

1177
00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:20,747
They're off doing their thing,

1178
00:53:20,790 --> 00:53:22,757
whether it's staring at their phone

1179
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:26,983
or answering an email or just keeping up with life.

1180
00:53:27,940 --> 00:53:31,147
I think that, not only are we not being mindful

1181
00:53:31,190 --> 00:53:33,237
about what our kids are doing

1182
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:34,907
or teaching them how to be mindful

1183
00:53:34,950 --> 00:53:36,847
in their use of these devices,

1184
00:53:36,890 --> 00:53:39,527
we're not mindful of what we are doing

1185
00:53:39,570 --> 00:53:42,393
and what we are modeling when we do it.

1186
00:53:43,260 --> 00:53:46,617
- I see so many parents in the park,

1187
00:53:46,660 --> 00:53:48,147
we call it distracted parenting,

1188
00:53:48,190 --> 00:53:51,227
where they're kind of pushing their toddler on the swing

1189
00:53:51,270 --> 00:53:54,197
and simultaneously checking their Facebook.

1190
00:53:54,240 --> 00:53:57,477
That toddler is, in many cases, preverbal,

1191
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,747
but they're already picking up on the lack of social cues.

1192
00:54:00,790 --> 00:54:01,787
And when they're a little bit older,

1193
00:54:01,830 --> 00:54:04,187
they're already thinking that they wanna have a cell phone

1194
00:54:04,230 --> 00:54:06,157
like their mom or dad does,

1195
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:08,097
and they think that this is totally acceptable behavior,

1196
00:54:08,140 --> 00:54:10,547
that you're not socially engaged

1197
00:54:10,590 --> 00:54:12,207
with the person that you're with.

1198
00:54:12,250 --> 00:54:14,597
- Every time you hear your phone buzz,

1199
00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:15,887
you're gonna be alerted.

1200
00:54:15,930 --> 00:54:17,987
You're gonna get that little dollop of dopamine.

1201
00:54:18,030 --> 00:54:19,657
You're gonna be wanting to go check it.

1202
00:54:19,700 --> 00:54:21,077
It's gonna be really hard.

1203
00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:23,757
So, as parents and as adults

1204
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,577
who have fully functioning frontal cortex,

1205
00:54:26,620 --> 00:54:28,087
we need to realize

1206
00:54:28,130 --> 00:54:30,483
this is not a neutral activity for us either.

1207
00:54:31,390 --> 00:54:34,267
- Watching your child learn to swim

1208
00:54:34,310 --> 00:54:37,427
is an agonizingly boring thing.

1209
00:54:37,470 --> 00:54:40,567
There's really nothing else to do but look at your phone.

1210
00:54:40,610 --> 00:54:42,427
Your kid's been looking up at you for two minutes,

1211
00:54:42,470 --> 00:54:44,650
trying to get your attention to show you what they can do,

1212
00:54:44,693 --> 00:54:46,687
that they can finally hold their breath

1213
00:54:46,730 --> 00:54:48,217
underwater for a few seconds,

1214
00:54:48,260 --> 00:54:51,157
and you've missed it because you're checking your texts

1215
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:54,557
or checking Twitter or just looking for something other

1216
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:57,297
to hold your attention for a few seconds.

1217
00:54:57,340 --> 00:54:58,757
And that's a terrible feeling.

1218
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:03,207
- Are we not talking to our child or our romantic partner

1219
00:55:03,250 --> 00:55:04,687
because we're staring at our phone

1220
00:55:04,730 --> 00:55:07,443
to get the latest tweet from the president?

1221
00:55:08,940 --> 00:55:10,217
What is going on?

1222
00:55:10,260 --> 00:55:13,757
And so we need to be very thoughtful and mindful

1223
00:55:13,800 --> 00:55:17,337
about the way we integrate this into our lives.

1224
00:55:17,380 --> 00:55:20,607
- The real message to parents is to look in the mirror.

1225
00:55:20,650 --> 00:55:23,097
Consider yourself, what you are:

1226
00:55:23,140 --> 00:55:25,177
your kid's most important role model.

1227
00:55:25,220 --> 00:55:26,737
You have to walk the walk.

1228
00:55:26,780 --> 00:55:28,267
You can't just talk the talk.

1229
00:55:28,310 --> 00:55:30,237
- How does it make you feel when Mommy and Daddy

1230
00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:32,717
are on their phone and not listening to you?

1231
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:34,107
- Sad.

1232
00:55:34,150 --> 00:55:35,730
- [Jon] Why does it make you feel sad?

1233
00:55:35,773 --> 00:55:40,427
- 'Cause I can't talk with you for a little bit.

1234
00:55:40,470 --> 00:55:42,197
- What could we be doing better

1235
00:55:42,240 --> 00:55:43,907
than spending so much time on our phone?

1236
00:55:43,950 --> 00:55:44,740
- Um...

1237
00:55:44,783 --> 00:55:47,267
- Spending a little bit of time.

1238
00:55:47,310 --> 00:55:51,633
- Spending more time with us and outside.

1239
00:55:52,650 --> 00:55:54,467
- [Jon] Doing things that are not on phones?

1240
00:55:54,510 --> 00:55:55,343
- Yeah.

1241
00:55:56,480 --> 00:55:58,973
- Doing thing that aren't on screens.

1242
00:56:00,110 --> 00:56:01,407
- We're the largest organization,

1243
00:56:01,450 --> 00:56:03,427
not just in the United States but in the world,

1244
00:56:03,470 --> 00:56:07,557
that focuses on media's impact and technology's impact

1245
00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:08,937
on kids and families. (pensive digital music)

1246
00:56:08,980 --> 00:56:11,067
And we did the pioneering research

1247
00:56:11,110 --> 00:56:14,257
on tech and media addiction a few years ago.

1248
00:56:14,300 --> 00:56:15,917
That actually came because,

1249
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,757
as a parent of four kids myself, I watch my own kids,

1250
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:23,107
and as an educator, watch all the kids I teach

1251
00:56:23,150 --> 00:56:25,447
be constantly glued to their phones

1252
00:56:25,490 --> 00:56:28,947
in a way that made TVs and video games seem quaint.

1253
00:56:28,990 --> 00:56:31,847
The silence from Silicon Valley is deafening.

1254
00:56:31,890 --> 00:56:34,907
It's a no-brainer, if you will,

1255
00:56:34,950 --> 00:56:37,477
that brains are being affected by technology,

1256
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:39,107
and specifically by devices.

1257
00:56:39,150 --> 00:56:40,637
It's clear that's happening.

1258
00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:43,617
And do I believe that some of the companies

1259
00:56:43,660 --> 00:56:46,457
are intentionally designing products and software

1260
00:56:46,500 --> 00:56:48,237
in order to make them more addictive?

1261
00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:49,777
Absolutely.

1262
00:56:49,820 --> 00:56:51,627
Does the sun rise every day?

1263
00:56:51,670 --> 00:56:52,517
Absolutely.

1264
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:55,257
The reason is 'cause of their business models.

1265
00:56:55,300 --> 00:56:58,217
Because their business models are dependent on that usage.

1266
00:56:58,260 --> 00:57:00,977
Particularly advertising-driven business models.

1267
00:57:01,020 --> 00:57:02,843
- You and I don't pay for Facebook.

1268
00:57:03,780 --> 00:57:05,587
We're not Facebook's customer.

1269
00:57:05,630 --> 00:57:08,394
So they aren't beholden to you and I.

1270
00:57:08,437 --> 00:57:11,637
You and I are the product Facebook sells.

1271
00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:14,134
'Cause they give you and I the service for free of Facebook.

1272
00:57:14,177 --> 00:57:16,037
But they own our data and they own our eyeballs

1273
00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:17,007
and they own our attention span

1274
00:57:17,050 --> 00:57:18,687
and, increasingly, our brand preferences.

1275
00:57:18,730 --> 00:57:20,717
You and I are the good being sold.

1276
00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:22,347
- It's also why they've eviscerated

1277
00:57:22,390 --> 00:57:23,727
so many privacy standards.

1278
00:57:23,770 --> 00:57:25,397
Getting consumers to give up

1279
00:57:25,440 --> 00:57:27,267
their personal private information

1280
00:57:27,310 --> 00:57:31,047
so that a company like Facebook can have this mass database

1281
00:57:31,090 --> 00:57:32,067
of all your preferences, et cetera,

1282
00:57:32,110 --> 00:57:34,137
and send you targeted ads.

1283
00:57:34,180 --> 00:57:36,967
So it's not because they're evil people.

1284
00:57:37,010 --> 00:57:39,807
It's because they want your information

1285
00:57:39,850 --> 00:57:42,797
or they want your to be constantly checking your screen,

1286
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:44,637
'cause they make more money when you do that.

1287
00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:45,767
It's that simple.

1288
00:57:45,810 --> 00:57:46,907
And the way to do that

1289
00:57:46,950 --> 00:57:49,007
is to get you to give up your information

1290
00:57:49,050 --> 00:57:51,527
and get you addicted to your device.

1291
00:57:51,570 --> 00:57:54,087
- We're screwed because the average person

1292
00:57:54,130 --> 00:57:57,207
doesn't have the same power that these companies do.

1293
00:57:57,250 --> 00:58:00,137
Aside from me, the average Joe doesn't have

1294
00:58:00,180 --> 00:58:01,797
a social behavioral scientist

1295
00:58:01,840 --> 00:58:02,684
walking around with them, saying,

1296
00:58:02,727 --> 00:58:04,521
"No, I don't think you should do this; you should do that.

1297
00:58:04,564 --> 00:58:06,150
"No, I don't think you should do this; you should do that,"

1298
00:58:06,193 --> 00:58:07,423
like these companies do.

1299
00:58:09,070 --> 00:58:10,747
- They know everything about you.

1300
00:58:10,790 --> 00:58:13,447
They know exactly how much time you spend

1301
00:58:13,490 --> 00:58:15,797
looking at this page versus that page,

1302
00:58:15,840 --> 00:58:18,087
whether you like cute puppies or cute kittens.

1303
00:58:18,130 --> 00:58:20,237
Their whole business model is predicated

1304
00:58:20,280 --> 00:58:24,637
upon providing you more of what you've liked in the past

1305
00:58:24,680 --> 00:58:26,237
so you will keep coming back.

1306
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:28,832
- It is a little bit reminiscent of what people once said

1307
00:58:28,875 --> 00:58:32,937
about smoking, which is to say that the industry insisted

1308
00:58:32,980 --> 00:58:34,980
that there was no evidence of addiction.

1309
00:58:36,620 --> 00:58:39,767
- Cigarettes and nicotine clearly do not meet

1310
00:58:39,810 --> 00:58:41,407
the classic definitions of addiction.

1311
00:58:41,450 --> 00:58:44,170
There is no intoxication. - We'll take that as a no,

1312
00:58:44,213 --> 00:58:46,587
and, again, time is short.

1313
00:58:46,630 --> 00:58:49,617
- [Jon] With chilling parallels to the tobacco industry,

1314
00:58:49,660 --> 00:58:51,997
Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress

1315
00:58:52,040 --> 00:58:54,397
and denied manipulating their products

1316
00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:55,797
and making them addictive.

1317
00:58:55,840 --> 00:58:58,337
- We're almost at time so I wanna ask you one more.

1318
00:58:58,380 --> 00:59:00,887
Do social media companies hire consulting firms

1319
00:59:00,930 --> 00:59:02,127
to help them figure out

1320
00:59:02,170 --> 00:59:04,247
how to get more dopamine feedback loops

1321
00:59:04,290 --> 00:59:07,657
so that people don't wanna leave the platform?

1322
00:59:07,700 --> 00:59:08,490
- No, Senator.

1323
00:59:08,533 --> 00:59:10,330
That's not how we've talked about this

1324
00:59:11,240 --> 00:59:13,557
or how we set up our product team.

1325
00:59:13,600 --> 00:59:16,147
- They sat on that research and they sold it to us anyway.

1326
00:59:16,190 --> 00:59:18,057
They made money hand over fist.

1327
00:59:18,100 --> 00:59:21,057
The big tech, social media, and video gaming,

1328
00:59:21,100 --> 00:59:22,447
they know that this is addicting,

1329
00:59:22,490 --> 00:59:24,837
they know that it's problematic, and they didn't care.

1330
00:59:24,880 --> 00:59:27,057
Sean Parker said that "we did it anyway."

1331
00:59:27,100 --> 00:59:29,367
- [Jon] How long before tech and gaming companies

1332
00:59:29,410 --> 00:59:31,173
become too powerful to stop?

1333
00:59:32,560 --> 00:59:35,257
A country that understands this well is South Korea

1334
00:59:35,300 --> 00:59:36,770
where internet and gaming addiction

1335
00:59:36,813 --> 00:59:38,943
have a stranglehold on the country.

1336
00:59:39,850 --> 00:59:41,327
They have more than 400 internet

1337
00:59:41,370 --> 00:59:43,903
and gaming rehabs operating presently.

1338
00:59:45,120 --> 00:59:47,897
It got so bad, a law had to be passed,

1339
00:59:47,940 --> 00:59:49,617
known as the Cinderella Law,

1340
00:59:49,660 --> 00:59:52,633
which will prohibit children from playing games after dark.

1341
00:59:53,650 --> 00:59:55,377
- I have to say, for me,

1342
00:59:55,420 --> 00:59:58,607
that's like treating a drug problem in a culture

1343
00:59:58,650 --> 01:00:02,307
by punishing the end user instead of punishing the pusher,

1344
01:00:02,350 --> 01:00:04,017
the person who actually makes this product

1345
01:00:04,060 --> 01:00:05,747
and decides that it should be distributed.

1346
01:00:05,790 --> 01:00:07,897
So I think it's a short-term solution.

1347
01:00:07,940 --> 01:00:09,807
But it shows the severity of the issue.

1348
01:00:09,850 --> 01:00:12,050
I think it's a really powerful illustration.

1349
01:00:13,770 --> 01:00:15,113
- It is common sense.

1350
01:00:16,070 --> 01:00:21,070
Why they should not ignore their duties, their product?

1351
01:00:22,230 --> 01:00:24,753
It is very unethical attitude.

1352
01:00:25,970 --> 01:00:28,457
- [Jon] In 2010, a three-month-old baby

1353
01:00:28,500 --> 01:00:31,497
died of starvation while her parents played for hours

1354
01:00:31,540 --> 01:00:33,473
at an internet gaming cafe.

1355
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:37,577
They were ironically nurturing a virtual child

1356
01:00:37,620 --> 01:00:40,677
while their real baby starved to death.

1357
01:00:40,720 --> 01:00:42,557
They were let off easy by the judge,

1358
01:00:42,600 --> 01:00:46,257
as he said they were addicts and did not understand

1359
01:00:46,300 --> 01:00:48,623
the consequences of their actions.

1360
01:00:51,300 --> 01:00:54,187
In China, the social networks working with the government

1361
01:00:54,230 --> 01:00:57,127
have now implemented a social credit system

1362
01:00:57,170 --> 01:01:00,857
where your life will be rated by how you act online.

1363
01:01:00,900 --> 01:01:04,497
Like a scary science fiction story, with a bad credit score,

1364
01:01:04,540 --> 01:01:07,883
you can be refused travel and stay in certain hotels,

1365
01:01:08,820 --> 01:01:11,103
held back from getting a better job,

1366
01:01:11,950 --> 01:01:14,377
not allowing your children in good schools,

1367
01:01:14,420 --> 01:01:17,263
and being publicly shamed as a bad citizen.

1368
01:01:18,130 --> 01:01:20,127
How long before these social ratings

1369
01:01:20,170 --> 01:01:21,833
spread across the globe?

1370
01:01:22,940 --> 01:01:24,587
- You know, the last time Congress

1371
01:01:24,630 --> 01:01:26,407
passed an important piece of legislation

1372
01:01:26,450 --> 01:01:29,257
around privacy or regulating technology,

1373
01:01:29,300 --> 01:01:31,187
Mark Zuckerberg was in first grade.

1374
01:01:31,230 --> 01:01:34,027
So Congress has had a disgraceful performance

1375
01:01:34,070 --> 01:01:36,047
in the United States, largely 'cause, I think,

1376
01:01:36,090 --> 01:01:39,277
they accept large contributions from the tech industry.

1377
01:01:39,320 --> 01:01:41,907
- [Jon] In 2017, the tech industry spent

1378
01:01:41,950 --> 01:01:45,647
a record $50 million lobbying powerful people

1379
01:01:45,690 --> 01:01:48,037
on both ends of the political spectrum,

1380
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:51,697
making them the largest lobbyists in Washington DC.

1381
01:01:51,740 --> 01:01:53,457
- I think if you're trying to do something

1382
01:01:53,500 --> 01:01:55,127
that is bad for your consumers

1383
01:01:55,170 --> 01:01:56,597
but is good for the bottom line,

1384
01:01:56,640 --> 01:01:59,017
there is no other way to look at that other than to say

1385
01:01:59,060 --> 01:02:00,567
that is not what a company should be doing,

1386
01:02:00,610 --> 01:02:04,133
especially when it has an audience of a billion-plus people.

1387
01:02:12,704 --> 01:02:15,147
(contemplative music)

1388
01:02:15,190 --> 01:02:17,787
- One of the things that we give up

1389
01:02:17,830 --> 01:02:20,147
when we are in front of a screen

1390
01:02:20,190 --> 01:02:24,187
is that ability to look inward, to process,

1391
01:02:24,230 --> 01:02:28,217
to be reflective, to synthesize what's coming in.

1392
01:02:28,260 --> 01:02:30,558
Understand that our mind is important,

1393
01:02:30,601 --> 01:02:33,207
and mindfulness

1394
01:02:33,250 --> 01:02:34,850
is the opposite of mindlessness.

1395
01:02:35,980 --> 01:02:37,357
All of these algorithms

1396
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:39,637
that are built into the echo chambers,

1397
01:02:39,680 --> 01:02:43,497
that are built into these interactive apps

1398
01:02:43,540 --> 01:02:45,710
are about us using them mindlessly

1399
01:02:46,651 --> 01:02:49,667
and following the path that they've laid out for us,

1400
01:02:49,710 --> 01:02:52,263
right to the profit centers that they want to.

1401
01:02:53,320 --> 01:02:55,497
- Who should have the right to interrupt you

1402
01:02:55,540 --> 01:03:00,540
is really important in figuring out how to fight back

1403
01:03:00,710 --> 01:03:04,247
in a world that will take your,

1404
01:03:04,290 --> 01:03:06,187
will take as much of your attention

1405
01:03:06,230 --> 01:03:08,443
as you're willing to give, and then some.

1406
01:03:10,880 --> 01:03:13,592
- We're quick to say, "Okay, put down your phone.

1407
01:03:13,635 --> 01:03:15,297
"Remove the screen from your life."

1408
01:03:15,340 --> 01:03:16,467
Well, then what?

1409
01:03:16,510 --> 01:03:20,044
And I think it's that fear of missing out,

1410
01:03:20,087 --> 01:03:23,637
and the fear of what happens in that silence

1411
01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:25,977
when we put our screens down,

1412
01:03:26,020 --> 01:03:28,467
that cause us to quickly go and pick them again, right?

1413
01:03:28,510 --> 01:03:31,517
It is the sense of loss

1414
01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:34,047
and a sense of missing out on something.

1415
01:03:34,090 --> 01:03:37,137
- One of the things we teach here is mindfulness,

1416
01:03:37,180 --> 01:03:38,667
and it's all about being able

1417
01:03:38,710 --> 01:03:43,617
to sit with yourself in the moment and observe,

1418
01:03:43,660 --> 01:03:46,757
be tuned into and observe what you're experiencing

1419
01:03:46,800 --> 01:03:49,827
physically and emotionally and cognitively,

1420
01:03:49,870 --> 01:03:52,553
just being really aware, self-aware.

1421
01:03:55,420 --> 01:03:58,437
- If you are trying to break a habit or break an addiction,

1422
01:03:58,480 --> 01:04:01,117
you have to learn to separate yourself from that activity

1423
01:04:01,160 --> 01:04:03,157
that you're habitually caught up in.

1424
01:04:03,200 --> 01:04:05,354
But, to do that, you have to have a sense

1425
01:04:05,397 --> 01:04:08,267
that there's an alternative.

1426
01:04:08,310 --> 01:04:09,977
The reason why people develop addictions

1427
01:04:10,020 --> 01:04:12,717
is because, you know, from one point of view,

1428
01:04:12,760 --> 01:04:14,607
they really want to be happy.

1429
01:04:14,650 --> 01:04:17,527
If you can tune into that in meditation

1430
01:04:17,570 --> 01:04:20,407
and actually experience it,

1431
01:04:20,450 --> 01:04:23,493
then you can feel happy.

1432
01:04:26,250 --> 01:04:31,250
- When you develop the capacity to just sit with yourself,

1433
01:04:31,340 --> 01:04:36,237
you can allow, for instance, a craving to pass.

1434
01:04:36,279 --> 01:04:39,717
A craving arises, you observe it,

1435
01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:42,527
and if you wait, it will actually pass.

1436
01:04:42,570 --> 01:04:44,346
- If someone walks into a room

1437
01:04:44,390 --> 01:04:46,307
and they're totally stressed

1438
01:04:46,350 --> 01:04:49,227
and agitated and all strung out,

1439
01:04:49,270 --> 01:04:50,957
everyone in the room will feel that.

1440
01:04:51,000 --> 01:04:53,807
If you've had a good meditation in the morning,

1441
01:04:53,850 --> 01:04:56,937
feel really peaceful and abundant, positive,

1442
01:04:56,980 --> 01:05:01,980
you are gonna improve people's experience wherever you go

1443
01:05:02,410 --> 01:05:07,407
just by virtue of that energy that you have in your mind,

1444
01:05:07,450 --> 01:05:11,893
and people will feel that, and that's good for you.

1445
01:05:13,150 --> 01:05:17,197
- I'm an advocate for scheduling time for focus.

1446
01:05:17,240 --> 01:05:20,357
We literally need to put in our day, I have it every day,

1447
01:05:20,400 --> 01:05:23,907
from eight o'clock to 10:30 is my focus time.

1448
01:05:23,950 --> 01:05:25,617
I turn off all notifications,

1449
01:05:25,660 --> 01:05:27,747
I use apps to block the internet,

1450
01:05:27,790 --> 01:05:30,297
so that that is my focus time.

1451
01:05:30,340 --> 01:05:31,957
And so we have to schedule that in.

1452
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:35,527
That is not something that is going to happen on its own.

1453
01:05:35,570 --> 01:05:37,617
- No matter where I am, no matter who I'm with,

1454
01:05:37,660 --> 01:05:41,337
what I'm doing, when I have dinner, it is tech-free.

1455
01:05:41,380 --> 01:05:43,677
Even if I'm alone, I don't use my phone.

1456
01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:45,977
And it's just an attempt to carve out some of the day,

1457
01:05:46,020 --> 01:05:47,807
to keep some of the day sacred,

1458
01:05:47,850 --> 01:05:49,697
where I'm either interacting with people

1459
01:05:49,740 --> 01:05:51,697
or doing something that's in the here and now

1460
01:05:51,740 --> 01:05:52,867
in the real world.

1461
01:05:52,910 --> 01:05:54,327
- Having tech-free time in the home,

1462
01:05:54,370 --> 01:05:57,507
whether an adult or a young person, a parent or not,

1463
01:05:57,550 --> 01:05:58,827
having time that you've decided

1464
01:05:58,870 --> 01:05:59,957
that you're not gonna use tech,

1465
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:01,897
whether it's for two hours on a Saturday,

1466
01:06:01,940 --> 01:06:03,297
after a certain time at night,

1467
01:06:03,340 --> 01:06:05,917
or within a certain time of waking up,

1468
01:06:05,960 --> 01:06:08,907
that can be very, very good for mental and physical health.

1469
01:06:08,950 --> 01:06:11,537
- One of the things that we have, really, to our advantage

1470
01:06:11,580 --> 01:06:15,017
is that children hate to be treated like they're idiots.

1471
01:06:15,060 --> 01:06:16,947
They hate to feel they're being manipulated

1472
01:06:16,990 --> 01:06:18,467
or snookered in some way.

1473
01:06:18,510 --> 01:06:21,977
And if we can engage them into understanding

1474
01:06:22,020 --> 01:06:26,297
that they are not actors in this environment

1475
01:06:26,340 --> 01:06:28,697
but they are reactors in this environment

1476
01:06:28,740 --> 01:06:31,397
to algorithms that have been pre-engineered

1477
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:33,087
to get them to twitch

1478
01:06:33,130 --> 01:06:35,937
exactly how the makers of those algorithms

1479
01:06:35,980 --> 01:06:38,797
want them to twitch, then they can back off

1480
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:41,691
and use their higher cortical functions.

1481
01:06:41,734 --> 01:06:43,527
- You don't have to, especially for a high school student,

1482
01:06:43,570 --> 01:06:45,267
you don't have to take the phone away.

1483
01:06:45,310 --> 01:06:46,727
It's limited use.

1484
01:06:46,770 --> 01:06:48,687
So two hours a day or less

1485
01:06:48,730 --> 01:06:51,537
doesn't seem to have serious effects on mental health.

1486
01:06:51,580 --> 01:06:53,677
That's enough time to text your friends

1487
01:06:53,720 --> 01:06:56,207
and get on social media and watch a few fun videos,

1488
01:06:56,250 --> 01:06:57,747
and then go and live your life.

1489
01:06:57,790 --> 01:06:59,747
I think that's good advice for everybody,

1490
01:06:59,790 --> 01:07:02,003
teens, parents, adults, everybody.

1491
01:07:06,520 --> 01:07:09,287
- The people who are returning to analog

1492
01:07:09,330 --> 01:07:10,567
or seeking it out in their lives,

1493
01:07:10,610 --> 01:07:14,397
if someone's going to the trouble of buying a turntable,

1494
01:07:14,440 --> 01:07:17,617
you know, going out and spending a couple hundred dollars

1495
01:07:17,660 --> 01:07:21,467
on a new record collection, they're doing it as a choice.

1496
01:07:21,510 --> 01:07:23,957
They're doing it because they see that this is an experience

1497
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,657
that is different and often complementary

1498
01:07:26,700 --> 01:07:29,507
to what happens on their phone and their computer.

1499
01:07:29,550 --> 01:07:32,607
I think that's a healthy way to live in this world.

1500
01:07:32,650 --> 01:07:36,507
- And I think that the great challenge for all of us

1501
01:07:36,550 --> 01:07:38,737
is to learn how to use these technologies

1502
01:07:38,779 --> 01:07:42,317
in ways that are mindful and meaningful

1503
01:07:42,360 --> 01:07:45,507
rather than we're responding

1504
01:07:45,550 --> 01:07:47,457
to design cues, (inspiring music)

1505
01:07:47,500 --> 01:07:51,567
responding to incentives that have been programmed for us

1506
01:07:51,610 --> 01:07:53,987
to sell us on an online life

1507
01:07:54,029 --> 01:07:55,767
and then to sell portions

1508
01:07:55,810 --> 01:07:58,543
of that online life to advertisers.

1509
01:07:59,580 --> 01:08:01,807
- [Jon] Large tech companies that still do not admit

1510
01:08:01,850 --> 01:08:03,837
to the addictive nature of their products

1511
01:08:03,880 --> 01:08:07,907
have committed to create more apps to monitor screen use.

1512
01:08:07,950 --> 01:08:10,637
In June 2018, Apple announced Screen Time

1513
01:08:10,680 --> 01:08:14,067
at their conference, which does just this.

1514
01:08:14,110 --> 01:08:16,716
Time will tell if this approach will work.

1515
01:08:16,760 --> 01:08:19,407
I really do hope it's a turn in the right direction

1516
01:08:19,450 --> 01:08:20,603
for all our sakes.

1517
01:08:22,680 --> 01:08:23,497
- Let's face facts.

1518
01:08:23,540 --> 01:08:25,607
These screens can take us live

1519
01:08:25,649 --> 01:08:27,107
to the summit of Mount Everest

1520
01:08:27,149 --> 01:08:28,877
or to the depths of the ocean

1521
01:08:28,920 --> 01:08:31,586
or to cultures and experiences

1522
01:08:31,630 --> 01:08:34,086
we could never have in real life.

1523
01:08:34,130 --> 01:08:35,663
There is great hope in that.

1524
01:08:36,760 --> 01:08:40,523
- [Jon] I still use my smartphone, but far less.

1525
01:08:42,750 --> 01:08:44,807
I do feel that I took my time back

1526
01:08:44,850 --> 01:08:47,377
from something that was stealing it from me.

1527
01:08:47,420 --> 01:08:48,473
And you can, too.

1528
01:08:49,330 --> 01:08:51,437
I'm not saying you have to delete your apps.

1529
01:08:51,479 --> 01:08:55,002
Just decide on where you want your attention to be focused.

1530
01:08:57,109 --> 01:08:59,462
In the real world or in theirs?

1531
01:09:02,840 --> 01:09:05,622
And, really, who deserves it the most?