The ever-changing tech landscape and the ever-growing research on interactive screens means that we must look at the topic anew year after year.
For parents trying to keep pace, Clare Morell has compiled the most up-to-date research into her recent release, The Tech Exit. Armed with the facts and interviews with dozens of Tech Exit families (including some from The Heights community!), Morell encourages parents that it’s never too late to reverse course on smartphones. United with other families trying to do the same, we can replace the new “smartphone milestone” with real milestones that emphasize the goods of the real world.
Chapters:
3:56 Getting the metaphor right
8:32 The myth of time limits, parental controls
11:24 Boys and online extortion
14:23 A culture inherent to smartphone use
17:51 A parent’s willpower vs. Big Tech
22:30 The alternatives: feature phones, landlines
31:25 Not your mama’s internet
34:43 Brain drain: new research on attention, making memories
39:41 How to reverse course with teens
43:01 The 30-day digital fast
47:17 A new digital paradigm: F.E.A.S.T.
56:13 Digital accountability in the home
1:00:30 Morell’s personal tech use
1:05:22 The father’s role
1:09:56 Encouragement to start
Links:
The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones by Clare Morell
The Tech Exit Supplementary Resources by Clare Morell
Preserving Our Humanity, Clare Morell’s Substack
Reset Your Child’s Brain by Victoria Dunckley
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
‘Sextortion’ Scams Involving Apple Messages Ended in Tragedy for These Boys, 7 June 2025, WSJ
How Broken Are Apple’s Parental Controls? It Took 3 Years to Fix an X-Rated Loophole, 5 June 2024, WSJ
Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity, April 2017, UChicago Press
Also on the Forum:
Dumb Phones, Feature Phones, and the New Tech Landscape featuring Alvaro de Vicente
Technology in the Home: Perspective, Principles, and Practices by Michael Moynihan
Smart Phones: A New Mythos by George Martin
On Self-Mastery, Technology, and Parental Discernment featuring Alvaro de Vicente
Smart Phones: Why Wait When He’s “The Only One” featuring Joe Cardenas
Featured opportunities:
Convivium for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 13-15, 2025)