Generation Anxiety: smartphones have created a gen Z mental health crisis – but there are ways to fix it

As my son was born in 1994, I found that article an interesting read.

Whilst he owns a smartphone and has done for a number of years, I am thankful that he feels no need to be welded to it.

Quite often, unless my son is expecting an important call, he will leave his smartphone at home if he needs to pop out. Admittedly, there have been occasions when this has caught me out, such as when he's gone grocery shopping and I've just remembered something I had forgotten to include on the shopping list.

More often than not, my son chooses to have his mobile phone on 'silent', and out of view.

Although he has a social media account, my son hardly ever uses it for anything other than occasional private messaging. To be honest, he's never really understood the appeal of social media, or why so many people cannot seem to live without it. FOMO (fear of missing out) certainly doesn't seem to be something that applies to my son.

I have cousins that are the same generation as my son, and I've observed that their 'relationships' with their smartphones are completely different. If they aren't holding their smartphones and constantly looking at them, then they will have their smartphones somewhere that is within easy reach.

As my son was born in 1994, I found that article an interesting read.

Whilst he owns a smartphone and has done for a number of years, I am thankful that he feels no need to be welded to it.

Quite often, unless my son is expecting an important call, he will leave his smartphone at home if he needs to pop out. Admittedly, there have been occasions when this has caught me out, such as when he's gone grocery shopping and I've just remembered something I had forgotten to include on the shopping list.

More often than not, my son chooses to have his mobile phone on 'silent', and out of view.

Although he has a social media account, my son hardly ever uses it for anything other than occasional private messaging. To be honest, he's never really understood the appeal of social media, or why so many people cannot seem to live without it. FOMO (fear of missing out) certainly doesn't seem to be something that applies to my son.

I have cousins that are the same generation as my son, and I've observed that their 'relationships' with their smartphones are completely different. If they aren't holding their smartphones and constantly looking at them, then they will have their smartphones somewhere that is within easy reach.