We must collectively protect children. And even if you don’t have children, speak up because it will affect our workforce and economy for years and years to come.

• Dr. Padget Skogman is a pediatrician in Cedar Rapids.

This spring, our surgeon general recommended that we mandate a warning label on social media platforms cautioning of the detrimental effects to mental health of our children. Evidence demands that we open our eyes and become aware of the cost of social media and smartphones to them.

I am a pediatrician, born and raised Iowa farm girl, mother of three daughters and graduate of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine in 2014. I have witnessed the erosion of our children’s development from smartphones and social media. They are inhibiting their social-emotional growth by robbing them of necessary socialization and development, which affects, but also extends far beyond, mental health, encompassing social awkwardness, reduced self-confidence, increased sedentary time, fragmented attention and disrupted learning, addiction, and social withdrawal. As a community, we must adopt new norms around social media and smartphones to reduce the cancerous risk they pose to our children.

Facebook became mainstream in 2006, and smartphones ubiquitous around 2012 and 2013. Not by accident, anxiety and depression in teens rose by 50% from 2010 to 2019, leading to a national mental health crisis. Loneliness and friendlessness began to surge in 2012, and, academically, U.S. scores for reading and math began to decline for the first time since the 1950s.  Recent data shows teens spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media per day with YouTube and TikTok leading the charge.

Please note that none of these hours include the screen time associated with school or homework.

The harms extend further with lost hours of sleep, exercise, socialization, and reading. Social media and gaming involve abnormally heavy and sustained activation of dopamine neurons and reward pathways, which means that, over time, the brain adapts to these high levels and then experience withdrawal without them, inducing anxiety, insomnia, and intense irritability, predisposing these children to addiction. Simultaneously, rates of pediatric obesity and pediatric type 2 diabetes also continue to rise, with Americans averaging 93.7% of their time indoors throughout the year. 

While this correlation isn’t 100% causation, it certainly gives me pause, and explains what I’ve observed in my own pediatric practice.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, my child is safe, then, because I haven’t allowed them to have a smartphone yet.” Kudos, but have you factored in that greater than 85% of the children they hang out with are on their phones? Even if your child isn’t on a phone, if at their cafeteria table majority of kids are staring at one, your child’s experience is altered. This is why adoption of community norms and school policies is paramount. We must collectively protect them. And even if you don’t have children, speak up because it will affect our workforce and economy for years and years to come.

Until recently, I’ve felt completely overwhelmed with how to stop or at least slow this proverbial “train crash” aside from educating everyone I encounter. Recently Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, published “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” with these four suggested norms, and I feel empowered to ensure that everyone in our community and state is aware of them. These are an excellent staring place to evoke a strong change for our children. I strongly recommend that all parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and schools adopt these immediately:

1. No smartphones before high school.
2. No social media before age 16.
3. Phone-free schools – place in locked location for the entire school day.
4. More independence, free play and responsibility in the real world.

Please implement them and talk to your school district and community about them, not just for your child or my girls, but for the future of our world.

Dr. Padget Skogman is a pediatrician in Cedar Rapids.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – People in Iowa City got the chance to enjoy live music in the city’s thirty-third annual Jazz Festival.

The festivities kicked off last night with performances from numerous different jazz bands concluding with fireworks on the Pentacrest.

This year featured more music from local high schoolers and even international acts.

Some of the musicians there see it as a way for the community to have more exposure to the genre.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Caitlin Clark spent her four years at Iowa rewriting the record books of Big Ten and Division I women’s basketball.

Now, she’s doing the same in the WNBA.

With 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in the Indiana Fever’s 83-78 victory Saturday against the New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double in a game.

REQUIRED READING: Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark gets WNBA’s first triple-double by a rookie

It’s also the first triple-double by any player in the 24-year history of the Fever, who selected Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Clark secured the triple-double with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, when she pulled down her 10th rebound of the afternoon.

“I think everybody was a little confused as to why they were going to so nuts over rebound,” Clark said after the game, laughing. “I mean, they can do that every time, but this was a little different.”

The 13 assists and 12 rebounds both matched career highs. It’s the fourth time in the past five games that Clark has dished out at least 10 assists. The West Des Moines native entered the day third in the WNBA in assists per game, with 7.1.

Clark’s production helped the Fever rally from a 10-point deficit with 6:05 remaining to knock off the Liberty, who came into the matchup with the best record in the WNBA. The win was Indiana’s sixth in its past nine games, improving its record to 9-13 following a 1-8 start to the season. The Fever currently holds the eighth and final spot in the WNBA playoffs.

For Clark, triple-doubles aren’t anything particularly new. She had 17 over the course of her four-year career at Iowa, where she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA championship games while ending her time in college as the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball.

REQUIRED READING: Caitlin Clark vs Kate Martin recap: Iowa women’s basketball stars in Fever-Aces rematch

How many points did Caitlin Clark have today?

Clark finished with a team-high 19 points for the Fever.

She made seven of of 17 shots from the field and three of her 12 3-pointers.

Caitlin Clark stats

In 22 WNBA games, each of which she has started, Clark is averaging 16.1 points, 7.4 assists, six rebounds, 1.4 steals and 5.5 turnovers per game.

A prolific shooter throughout her career, Clark is making 39.3% of her field goals and 33.1% of her 3s this season.