If you’ve been alive in the past decade or so, you’ve probably become abundantly aware of how smartphones are taking over the time and space of people of all ages — some statistics show that Canadians spend almost 5 hours daily on their phones, and just two years ago, over three quarters of Canadians owned a smartphone (see this article in the Star about the potential negative impact of smartphones on young people’s mental health). Jean M. Twenge weighed in on the topic in a more lengthy analysis, published in the Atlantic last autumn. Other articles point out that smartphones don’t necessarily have negative effects for all young people, or in all circumstances; read this article in Nature, which highlights a more balanced view of the effects of smartphones on youth health and wellness.

Are smartphones truly “ruining a generation,” and if so, what can be done to mitigate the effects of a tool that – for all intents and purposes – is ubiquitous, and not going anywhere anytime soon?