Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt emphasizes in The Anxious Generation, the concerning rise in anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems among young people born after 1995 (Haidt, 2018). He contends that changes in childhood events—including the reduction in unstructured play, the emergence of social media, and overprotective parenting—link this propensity to changes in experience.

These elements together with the widespread use of technology have produced a generation of young people more sensitive, risk-averse, and dependent on outside approval. Particularly for young females, constant exposure to well-chosen online personas and social comparison drives anxiety and melancholy. Moreover, the absence of unsupervised play and too cautious parenting impede the growth of resilience and coping strategies required to negotiate the demands of adulthood.

Understanding these hazards, teachers can act early to reduce the bad effects of technology and advance good development among their children.

Active Creation: Promote events where students must use technology to invent, design, and solve problems. Scratch and Canva, among other tools, can inspire critical thinking and innovation (Leonard, 2024).

Focus and Attention: Share with kids the science of attention and the negative consequences of multitasking. Urge them to limit outside distractions and give concentrated learning top priority (Leonard, 2024).

Meaningful Connection: Create chances for students to interact with mentors and one another in meaningful ways—online and in person. Promote direct meetings and conversations (Leonard, 2024).

Digital Wellness: Teach children about responsible technology use and the need of balancing screen time with other activities; therefore, promoting digital wellness. Urge them to create good social media and internet engagement habits.

Mindfully Integrate Technology: Use technology specifically to improve education, not only as a replacement for more conventional approaches. Select instruments and exercises encouraging active participation, group projects, and critical thinking.

Certainly, technology is a force in modern society; it also becomes more and more important in the life of young people. It complicates their mental health and well-being even if it offers many benefits. Knowing these challenges and implementing strategies to lower the risks would help teachers to lead their students across the digital landscape in a logical and efficient way.

As Haidt stresses in The Anxious Generation, young people must develop resilience, independence, and practical contacts. We can raise a generation that is not only tech-savvy, but also emotionally healthy, and ready for the future by juggling technology use with possibilities for free play, social engagement, and creative expression.

Technology offers some hazards that teachers should be aware of even if it might be a useful tool in the classroom. In his November 2024 Overcoming Potential Risks of Student Tech Use, Daniel Leonard lists four main concerns:

Passive Connections: Students frequently have a passive connection with their electronics, using them mostly for consumption rather than creation. Their critical thinking and inventiveness may thus be limited (Leonard, 2024).

Multitasking Myth: Technology gives the mistaken belief that multitasking is successful. Research indicates, nonetheless, that it interferes with learning and concentration (Leonard, 2024).

Shallow Connection: Social isolation and shallow relationships are outcomes of technology. Face-to-face communication has depth and complexity; online encounters may lack both (Leonard, 2024).

Social Isolation: Depression and loneliness can result from too frequent usage of cell phones and social media. Given their possible effects on mental health, the Surgeon General has even urged warning labels on social media sites (Leonard, 2024).