Two Shareholders Tell Apple to Address Negative Effects of Too Much Smartphone Use to Kids
Two Apple shareholders recently said they want the iPhone maker to learn and act on the hazards of too much smartphone use among children.
Recently, a letter addressed to Apple's board of directors was sent by two shareholders, JANA Partners LLC and The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS). According to the Wall Street Journal, the entities hold around $2 billion of Apple's shares.
In the letter, the shareholders noted that Apple had been setting precedents in the innovation of smartphone technology, and this time, they are hoping that the iPhone maker would once again set the bar in terms of "setting an example about the obligations of technology companies to their youngest customers."
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The two groups also cited studies from various institutions and experts that reportedly agree there is "a clear need" for parents to have "more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using your products in an optimal manner."
The letter took note of the Center on Media and Child Health and the University of Alberta's recent study where 67 percent of their 2,300 teacher respondents agreed that they had noticed the rising number of students "who are negatively distracted by digital technologies in the classroom."
Apart from the ability to focus on academic activities, the same study said teachers have also observed the decrease in the students' capacity to socialize. A junior high teacher noticed that more students chose to "sit all lunch hour and play on their personal devices" instead of spending their lunch breaks socializing with other children.
The excessive use of smartphones was also linked to children's exposure to sleep deprivation. The shareholders cited a study that said more than half of the children who spent over five hours a day using their mobile devices were less likely to get seven hours of sleep.
JANA and CalSTRS also considered that other factors do affect the children's behavior in school and in social activities. However, the shareholders argued: "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."
With all these being considered, JANA and CalSTRS called on Apple to take the first steps in helping parents address the issue in several ways, such as forming a committee of experts to further observe the effects of these devices' integration into children's lives. Given that there are now readily-available studies on the matter, the shareholders hope that Apple will introduce "new tools and options" based on these pieces of research.
JANA and CalSTRS proposed that Apple could begin by introducing an "expanded" setup menu where parents could key in the age of the iPhone user and the advisable time limit of smartphone use based on their time zones.
The two shareholders also suggested that Apple could hire or assign an executive who could devotedly monitor the progress that the company would make in addressing the issue.
The issue of smartphone use and its effects among children and teenagers is not an entirely new topic. In June 2017, a group of parents in Colorado previously petitioned to ban the sale of smartphones among children under the age of 13.
Meanwhile, in a response to JANA and CalSTRS, Apple said in a statement (via Reuters): "We take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids."
