THE SMARTPHONE LOBOTOMY: How Denying Kids Their Digital Birthright Makes Adults Feel Better, While Stunting Our Kids’ Future

FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES , parents and educators have debated the role of smartphones in children’s lives, weighing their benefits against fears of addiction, distraction, and social decline. But what if we’ve been looking at this all wrong?

What if the smartphone is not just another tool that we can choose to use or not use, but rather a new part of our evolving humanity — the very “thinking extender” that Einstein believed was necessary for solving our future problems? What if our children are, in fact, using their phones — not always in ways we like — to adapt to a new world? What if, in the process, they are becoming different people, adapted to a new environment, with perhaps even a new definition of “healthy”? And what if this is a necessary step in humanity’s evolution? What if, by taking our kids’ devices away, we’re not protecting them — as we’d like to believe — but instead cutting off their full human imagination and possibilities, and their ability to adapt to the new world they will live in?

Human Extensions and Non-Biological Evolution

For hundreds of millennia, human progress has been driven by a series of extensions — clothing, speech, agriculture, writing, science — even morality. Each extension — or “non-biological evolutionary step” — expanded the boundaries of what it meant to be human. While we have stayed largely the same biologically, we have become — via these extensions — a different and more evolved species. Today, we are living through the latest non-biological human evolution, adding massive computing power, instant virtual communication, and algorithmic intelligence to our human capabilities.

The conduit for these newest extensions is the smartphone — a device so ubiquitous that we often forget just how radically it is transforming us. The new capabilities that come to us via these devices are not mere conveniences or distractions. They are new parts of our being and humanity — integral to the symbiosis with technology that now defines modern intelligence. People without these devices — or who aren’t utilizing them to their full capability — are “humans from the past,” living with a reduced set of cognitive tools. Our young are the first generations to fully embody this transformation.

A New Kind of Intelligence

With a smartphone, intelligence is no longer confined to an unaided brain — regardless of how well that brain has been “educated.” Intelligence now extends outward — to the cloud, to AI, and to an ever-expanding digital world. A smartphone is the interface between a biological mind and the vast enhancements of the digital age — the link to the most up-to-date human experience. Denying anyone this link — at any age — is cutting off part of their full 21st-century mental power, blocking access to a now-essential part of human thinking and being.

Most young people instinctively understand this. It’s why they resist giving up their phones so vehemently. They know that living in today’s world requires embracing these new “mind extensions” from an early age.

The Discussion We Need

Instead of debating how to limit smartphone use, we should be discussing how to incorporate these new extensions effectively and positively. But too many adults — including parents and educators — see smartphones as distractions rather than enhancements, viewing themselves as the rightful gatekeepers of their use. Schools lock kids’ phones away in pouches. Parents delay giving devices to their children. The justification? That smartphones are harming children’s mental health, making them anxious, depressed, and disconnected from real life.

But is this really true?

The Myth of Addiction

The fear of “smartphone addiction” is largely an adult projection. We assume that because children spend hours on their devices, they must be addicted. But what if our kids prefer to be immersed in something they find more useful and engaging than the old world we offer them? What if this immersion is necessary for adapting to a radically different future?

The panic in adults is predictable. Every major technological shift in history has been met with similar resistance. Writing was said to destroy memory. Books were accused of corrupting young minds. Science was blamed for eroding faith. Television and video games were charged with killing attention spans. Now it’s smartphones’ turn to be vilified.

But smartphones aren’t decreasing kids’ communication skills as many fear. They’re simply evolving them — away from outdated forms like dinner table conversation and eye contact toward new, digital methods of connection and expression.

A Future Foreseen

Margaret Mead, the great cultural anthropologist, foresaw this shift over fifty years ago. In Prefigurative Cultures and Unknown Children (1973), she wrote, “I believe we are on the verge of developing a new kind of culture… [where] it will be the child — and not the parent and grandparent — that represents what is to come.” Today’s young people — not their parents — are determining the future, shaping new ways to use technology, and redefining human intelligence.

Still So New

Because smartphones and AI-enhanced capabilities are still evolving, we have much to learn about their optimal use. The first wave of exploitation — attention-grabbing social media, addictive algorithms, and manipulative advertising — was inevitable. But as we gain experience, the misuse of phones for mindless scrolling and cyberbullying will fade.

Yet, learning to use these technologies positively requires experimentation. Instead of restricting kids’ access, we should be fostering their ability to create meaningful, constructive uses for their devices. We need to develop engaging, empowering digital environments that rival social media’s appeal — spaces where young people can collaborate, solve problems, and bring their ideas to life.

The Real Source of Stress is Us

In speaking with young people around the world, I hear the same thing over and over: their stress does not come from their phones. Other than cyberbullying — which must be addressed — their anxiety stems from school pressures, parental expectations, and the relentless push to achieve.

Few kids say, “I’m stressed out by my phone.” Instead, they say, “I’m stressed out by school. By my parents. By the pressure to perform.” Smartphones often provide relief — a means to connect, to escape, and to manage the overwhelming demands of their structured, high-pressure lives.

Yet the dominant narrative among adults continues to blame technology for a so-called mental health crisis, conveniently shifting responsibility away from themselves. Books confirming adult fears and biases become instant best sellers — leading to adults’ denying kids the very source of their future success.

The Harm We Do

The real harm adults inflict on children is not in giving them too much technology or giving it to them too early, but in failing to help them navigate their evolving world. Today’s young people want — and need — to live in their own era, embracing its opportunities and challenges. Yet we continually stifle their potential, forcing them into outdated educational models and measuring their success by antiquated standards.

Rather than seeing young people as “new humans” with unprecedented abilities, we insist on shaping them into versions of ourselves. The result? A generation of kids frustrated by adult resistance, yearning for a future they instinctively know is theirs to create.

New Questions for a New Time

Our children recognize that we are at the dawn of a new human era — one defined by deep integration with digital intelligence. They know the smartphone is only a first step. Soon, wearable and embedded technologies will make today’s debates about “screen time” irrelevant. Instead of clinging to outdated notions of learning and intelligence, we should be asking:

What can young people now do that humans could never do before?

How can we help them harness their extended digital intelligence?

How can we cultivate wisdom, creativity, and ethical awareness in this new age?

The True Threat

The true threat facing today’s children is not their possession of smartphones — it is the failure of adults to understand what these devices represent. Taking away a child’s smartphone is not just removing a screen. It is severing a vital extension of their evolving intelligence, their connection to knowledge, and their passport to the future.

It is, in every sense, a lobotomy.

The question is: Will we embrace our next human evolution — or will we hold our children back?

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Marc Prensky is the author of 12 books on young people, education and technology, most recently THIRD MILLENNIUM KIDS and EMPOWERED! He coined the term “digital natives” and has spoken in 50 countries. Marc holds degrees from both Harvard and Yale and spent 6 years at The Boston Consulting Group. He founded and current runs The Global Institute for Empowerment, Accomplishment, & Impact by Young People (eai-institute.org), and The Two Billion Kids Project (twobillionkids.world