Kids are suffering from addiction to technology at unprecedented rates, which is impacting their sleep, increasingly making them nervous, and causing them to avoid even routine activities. Those were the findings of a 1941 study that analyzed the supposedly addictive effects of radio dramas and horror movies on child mental health. However, the same conclusions can be found in countless headlines today about social media.
Experts and academics have long feared technological change. And in technology policy, we call these cycles of outrage in response to new technologies, “tech panics.” Origins date all the back to Ancient Greece and have evolved over the years alongside technology to be about everything from writing to mass media. Driven by the ubiquity of the radio, controversy over this then-emergent technology began as early as the 1920s.
A later 1946 study was written to uncover more about how children consumed radio programs. It noted how children were enthralled by radio dramas at the expense of their academic interests. The study describes it as an invisible intruder that has ahold of children, catching parents off guard and leaving them confused about how to handle the problem.
Fast forward to today. Little has changed.
Critics are sounding the alarm about social media and its impact on children. They describe how this technology is addicting kids, taking up hours of their time, and negatively impacting their mental health. Worries abound that social media causes anxiety and depression despite limited evidence to support those assertions.
But while experts debate, politicians are acting. State and local governments across the United States have filed lawsuits against social media companies. State governments either have passed or are considering restrictions on youth social media access under the pretext that it is harmful to their mental well-being.
The jury is still out on the effects of social media and mental health. But the historical context around radio and the many other panics around technology between then and now should give policymakers pause. Laws that undermine speech and privacy ought not to be rushed into law out of fear of the unknown.
The parallels between 1940s concerns about radio dramas and social media restrictions today are striking. The historical context should put modern concerns in perspective. We have good reason not to jump to conclusions about the latest rounds of tech panics.
Trey Price is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, follow us on X @ConsumerPal.