Report: Prominent Apple Shareholders Call on Company to Research ‘Impact of Smartphones on Kids’

Two prominent Apple shareholders have called on the company to research the impact of smartphones on children.

The two institutional shareholders who penned the open letter are JANA Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which “hold a total of about $2 billion in Apple shares,” according to Tech Crunch.

Though Tech Crunch claimed this “represents a tiny fraction of its current $898 billion market cap,” they added that, “The letter is noteworthy, however, because both investors are influential activist shareholders,” explaining that, “Jana Partners managing director Barry Rosenstein pushed Whole Foods to put itself up for sale before the grocery chain’s acquisition by Amazon last year, while CalSTRS, which manages retirement benefits for public educators in California, is the second-largest public pension fund in the United States.”

In the open letter signed by JANA Partners LLC Managing Partner Barry Rosenstein and Anna Sheehan, the director of corporate governance for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the two proclaimed, “we believe there is a clear need for Apple to offer parents more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using your products in an optimal manner.”

“By doing so, we believe Apple would once again be playing a pioneering role, this time by setting an example about the obligations of technology companies to their youngest customers,” they declared. “As a company that prides itself on values like inclusiveness, quality education, environmental protection, and supplier responsibility, Apple would also once again be showcasing the innovative spirit that made you the most valuable public company in the world. In fact, we believe that addressing this issue now will enhance long-term value for all shareholders, by creating more choices and options for your customers today and helping to protect the next generation of leaders, innovators, and customers tomorrow.”

“More than 10 years after the iPhone’s release, it is a cliché to point out the ubiquity of Apple’s devices among children and teenagers, as well as the attendant growth in social media use by this group. What is less well known is that there is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent young users, this may be having unintentional negative consequences,” they continued, adding that, “A study conducted recently by the Center on Media and Child Health and the University of Alberta found that 67% of the over 2,300 teachers surveyed observed that the number of students who are negatively distracted by digital technologies in the classroom is growing and 75% say students’ ability to focus on educational tasks has decreased.”

In the past 3 to 5 years since personal technologies have entered the classroom, 90% stated that the number of students with emotional challenges has increased and 86% said the number with social challenges has increased. One junior high teacher noted that, “I see youth who used to go outside at lunch break and engage in physical activity and socialization. Today, many of our students sit all lunch hour and play on their personal devices.

Professor Twenge’s research shows that U.S. teenagers who spend 3 hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35% more likely, and those who spend 5 hours or more are 71% more likely, to have a risk factor for suicide than those who spend less than 1 hour.

This research also shows that 8th graders who are heavy users of social media have a 27% higher risk of depression, while those who exceed the average time spent playing sports, hanging out with friends in person, or doing homework have a significantly lower risk. Experiencing depression as a teenager significantly increases the risk of becoming depressed again later in life.

Also, teens who spend 5 or more hours a day (versus less than 1) on electronic devices are 51% more likely to get less than 7 hours of sleep (versus the recommended 9). Sleep deprivation is linked to long-term issues like weight gain and high blood pressure.

A study by UCLA researchers showed that after 5 days at a device-free outdoor camp, children performed far better on tests for empathy than a control group.

According to an American Psychological Association (APA) survey of over 3,500 U.S. parents, 58% say they worry about the influence of social media on their child’s physical and mental health, 48% say that regulating their child’s screen time is a “constant battle,” and 58% say they feel like their child is “attached” to their phone or tablet.

“Some may argue that the research is not definitive, that other factors are also at work, and that in any case parents must take ultimate responsibility for their children. These statements are undoubtedly true, but they also miss the point,” expressed the letter. “The average American teenager who uses a smartphone receives her first phone at age 10 and spends over 4.5 hours a day on it (excluding texting and talking). 78% of teens check their phones at least hourly and 50% report feeling ‘addicted’ to their phones. It would defy common sense to argue that this level of usage, by children whose brains are still developing, is not having at least some impact, or that the maker of such a powerful product has no role to play in helping parents to ensure it is being used optimally.”

You can read the full open letter at ThinkDifferentlyAboutKids.com.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.