Make Me Smart

There’s been a lot of debate lately about the potential effects of smartphones and social media on young people’s mental health. Some states like states like Florida and Utah have even tried to ban kids from using social media apps until they reach a certain age. But Mikey Jensen, professor of clinical psychology and director of the Interactions and Relationships Lab at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, said outright bans could do more harm than good.

On the show today: How smartphones and social media are reshaping our lives. And why we should focus on the quality of kids’ online time instead of the amount of it.

Then, we’ll get into the cost of a major ransomware attack for a health care company and its clients. And, the mini pencil economy and what a history professor got wrong about ancient Rome.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?” from Nature

• • “The Phone in the Room” from The New York Times

• • “I Asked 65 Teens How They Feel About Being Online” from The Cut

• • “What the evidence really says about social media’s impact on teens’ mental health” from Vox

• • “UnitedHealth to take up to $1.6 billion hit this year from Change hack” from Reuters

• • “Change Healthcare stolen patient data leaked by ransomware gang” from TechCrunch

• • “IMF Steps Up Its Warning to US Over Spending and Ballooning Debt” from Bloomberg

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.