Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

If you have teens, should you be concerned about the amount time your teenage spends on screen time? A recent essay in The Atlantic says yes. It's entitled Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? The author, Jean Twenge, interviewed a 13 year old girl in Houston, who told her she likes her phone better than people.  Twenge says that today, teenagers don’t go to the mall.  They don’t get their driver’s licenses and they aren’t going out socially with other friends. Instead, they’re texting or chatting through their handheld device…while they’re alone in their room. Our children have an important and necessary role in society today and in the future.  If we don’t lead them, to interact face to face and physically explore the world God has created, how will they be able live productively and responsibly as adults?