An op-ed by Mark Zupan, Alfred University president, appeared over the weekend in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. In the piece, Zupan discusses how technology (smartphones specifically) and a decline in human interaction through free play has impacted the mental well-being of young Americans.
The op-ed, titled “Technology can create divides, challenges to promoting mental well-being in our children,” appeared in the Sunday, Nov. 30, issue of the Democrat and Chronicle.
In his piece, Zupan cited a book by Jonathan Haidt, a professor in New York University’s Stern School of Business, titled “The Anxious Generation.” In it, Haidt documents the rise of anxiety-related disorders in Gen Z (born 1997-2012) and Gen Alpha (born 2013-2024). The work comports with research by the American Council of Education on college student mental health well-being. According to council, anxiety diagnoses have risen dramatically among college students over the last decade, from 22 percent in 2013-14 to 34 percent in 2023-24.
“While such increases may be partially attributable to greater awareness and diagnosis (a good thing), fellow college presidents consistently report the pressure to add more mental health resources to their campuses in response to student demand,” Zupan writes, noting that in 2024, 77 percent of students surveyed indicated that mental health challenges impacted them for at least one to six days over the past month. “Haidt argues that the root of this phenomenon is the interaction effect of two simultaneous changes: the reduction of free play among children and the introduction of the ‘smartphone’.”
Zupan discusses how smartphone technology has resulted in youngsters replacing human interaction through play with online interaction via social media. The introduction of electronic devices as a teaching aid in classrooms has often proved to be a distraction among students. Twenty U.S. states and territories, including New York, have banned smartphone in K-12 schools. The National Bureau of Academic Research found academic and behavioral improvements in one Florida school district with such a ban.
“As more research continues to emerge about the costs and benefits of free play and smartphone use by children, we must take steps to preserve the well-being of our youth,” Zupan says.
