Jonathan Haidt

Stories are good.

Movies are good.

Watching a movie with your kids is great.

It's the 15-second videos that have no redeeming value and that I think are really...

The worst.

So I would say just be careful of both the addictive nature and the distracting nature of these things.

So a screen isn't going to hurt the kid necessarily, but it's the addictive possibilities.

Yes.

My advice is if you try to pull it out by yourself, it's going to be very painful.

But if you and four other families pull it out at the same time and you give them something in return, it's going to be joyous.

Yes, they'll resist.

But let's look at the difference.

In one case, you gave your kid an iPhone when she was nine, and she's now 11.

And everyone, everyone has an iPhone and they're on it all day long.

Now, if you take your kid off, you're condemning your kid to social death.

So that's a very hard situation.

But let's suppose you gave your kid a phone when she's nine and now she's 11.

And most of her friends are on Instagram, too.

But you talk with the parents of her three best friends.

You say, you know, I think we made a mistake.