Keynote Address: The Movement to Protect Kids from Addictive Technologies

In this keynote address, I describe my personal journey starting with a school outreach program I created in 2017 to address technology overuse among kids. While I initially advocated for self-help methods, I grew to recognize that the tech industry bore responsibility. This realization led me to write Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, which focused on collective action to pressure the tech industry to redesign its addictive products. I then describe the movement to control addictive technologies and protect kids, which has gained momentum since the end of the pandemic.

This movement combines grassroots parent activism with legal-political action. It includes action to restrict phones in schools; impose warning labels on social media; class action suits against social media and games by parents of victims; school districts and attorneys general; as well as hundreds of bills and laws enacted to protect kids from excessive screen time and other online harms. I conclude by calling for lawyers and parents to join this movement now—to take advantage of this window of opportunity—to save a generation of kids facing a public health crisis