The hedge fund Jana Partners and California State Teachers’ Retirement System, investors in Apple stock, are warning the public of the potential dangers of using Apple products and other technologies.
They penned an open letter to alert the tech giant of a growing concern about the harmful effects that their product may have on child development. Their concern is being echoed by a survey conducted by teachers in Alberta, Canada that found that digital technology is becoming more and more of a distraction to their students.
Academic researchers are also starting to hypothesize the same. Professor of psychology, Jean Twenge, suggests that it may even be causing mental health problems in teenagers.
Even designers of these digital technologies are admitting that their products can potentially be misused.
The investors, however, are not calling for the banishment of digital technologies in the hands of children. Instead, they suggest that tech companies should develop ways to curb these harmful effects and provide the means to understand how to use their products responsibly.
In the long run, committees should be organized within these companies to ensure that this concern is taken into consideration when designing new products. Funding research into how harmful effects can be alleviated would also be welcome development further down the road.
The suggestion with the most potential to be effective in the short term is to grants parents more control when it comes to digital technology. Educating parents and regular company progress reports would also help in lessening the negative effects of technology on children.
