Digital devices are horrible! Awful!
Well, isn't that the truth? Ain't that so? Doesn't everybody know it?
In Psychology Today for 23 July 2025, Ran D. Anbar, M.D., wrote a column entitled “The Use of Electronics Causes Great Harm to our Children: Limitation of electronic device use can improve physical and mental health.” Dr. Anbar argued that (a) using devices infers with sleep; (b) there is a correlation between using electronic devices and lower levels of physical activity; (c) devices carry advertising that promotes poor nutrition; (d) using social media replaces actual social interactions with shallow interactions and misunderstandings; and (e) device use slows development of insight and self-understanding.
Dr. Anbar, who has published papers on pediatric pulmonology and a book about hypnosis,1 seemed to be advancing arguments that were pretty weak. The evidence he provided was largely anecdotal and impressionistic. I thought, sheesh, this author doesn’t even mention Jonathan Haidt, who’s been popping up in the news and on talk shows with his arguments about undesirable effects of smart phones.
Here is a 40-min video interview with Jon from 2024 that was conducted by Elise Hu and published by the TED group.
Jon was a colleague at the University of Virginia in the 1990s and 2000s. Remembering that reminded me that our colleague, Dan Willingham had discussed the use of digital devices and that I had covered it for LD Blog. So I dug about and found my post from 21 January 2015. Here it is:
Could digital devices make attention worse?
Ever wondered if using digital devices is harmful to kids?
For those who just popped into this century, it is obvious that the education press is ripe with discussion of digital devices in classrooms. For the rest of us, the number of stories about the promise of tablets, games, and all their brothers, sisters, and cousins has just grown greater every year.
All this growth of technology has led people to voice reservations about technology in education, including education for students with learning disabilities. Some people probably needlessly fret that digital devices might deter children from learning to read and write (as noted at # 10 in “10 Big Concerns about Tablets in the Classroom”), and common complaints are that the devices are inherently distracting, that multi-tasking will reduce productivity, and that students will use them to do things other than assigned tasks (e.g., messaging each other). Probably most of these are overstated.
In fact, psychologist (and friend of LD Blog) Dan Willingham published an opinion piece in the New York (NY, US) Times entitled “Smartphones Don’t Make Us Dumb” that debunked the idea that devices disrupt attention, if not promoting inattention.
AS much as we love our digital devices, many of us have an uneasy sense that they are destroying our attention spans. We skitter from app to app, seldom alighting for long. Our ability to concentrate is shot, right?
Research shows that our intuition is wrong.
You should read Dan’s entire column (see link at the title), however, to get his full take on these ideas. You’ll have to concentrate, of course.
OK, Dear Readers…sorry. I’m not providing a definitive recommendation. I am inviting your to read a bit of the discussion about the use of digital technology by kids. Sadly, we must “do our own research.”
Footnote
Here are references for a couple of Dr. Anbar’s publications:
Anbar, R. D., & Hall, H. R. (2004). Childhood habit cough treated with self-hypnosis. The Journal of Pediatrics, 144(2), 213-217. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jpeds.2003.10.041
Fiese, B. H., Wamboldt, F. S., & Anbar, R. D. (2005). Family asthma management routines: Connections to medical adherence and quality of life. The Journal of Pediatrics, 146(2), 171-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2004.08.083
Gross, S. J., Iannuzzi, D. M., Kveselis, D. A., & Anbar, R. D. (1998). Effect of preterm birth on pulmonary function at school age: a prospective controlled study. The Journal of Pediatrics, 133(2), 188-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(98)70219-7