Many U.S. school districts are considering cellphone bans designed to maintain a distraction-free learning environment.
Parents are saying that a viral video showing the horrors of teen phone addiction is “powerful” and “hits deep.”
The video ad, posted on Sept. 16 by the Spain-based sportswear brand Siroko, is captioned, “How much life is consumed by your phone?” and has more than 19 million views on TikTok.
The story in the video is about a young girl who is excited to receive a cell phone for Christmas. She very quickly becomes attached to the device — texting from her bed, taking selfies, playing mobile games and typing while walking. She eats with her phone, is distracted by text messages while doing homework and performs a social media dance with friends.
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Despite a growing sense of fatigue, she can’t put the phone down.
The girl starts falling asleep in class, becomes the target of online bullying and accidentally finds porn on a website. When her parents try taking the phone away, she screams hysterically.
It’s only when the girl sees a bike in her garage that she reacts with wonder.
The video ends with the girl gliding down the street on a bike with the wind in her hair and a smile growing across her face.
Parents on Instagram and TikTok said the video’s message was “fantastic” and worthy of a Super Bowl ad placement. Comments (in a variety of languages) included:
- “Why did this make me cry???”
- “Childhood is worth protecting!”
- “It is not about kids at all. It is about all of us. Kids are just mirrors.”
- “Our sweet children deserve better than this!”
- “This hits deep.”
- “Omg this ad made me cry. I have a 6 year old and I am terrified at what the future looks like with a digital device in her life.”
- “So powerful.”
Half of teens said they felt "addicted" to their phones in a 2016 Common Sense Media survey.
The survey also found that 72% of teens “feel the need to immediately respond” to phone notifications, and more than one-third of families say they argue over the topic of cell phones every day.
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