Smartphones affect young people's mental health so are dumbphones the answer?
For many Aussies born in the past two generations, such as Ekaager, 16, Kian, 15, Daiwik, 16, and Jiujiu, 15, smartphones have been a part of life since early childhood.
"I think I was 12 or 11, around that age," Ekaager said.
Kian said: "I think I was like 10 or 11."
"I was definitely 12," Daiwik said.
"Yeah, something like 12," Jiujiu said.
A global 2024 study commissioned by tech company Human Mobile Devices (HMD) found that young people were being given smartphones at an average age of 11 years old.
In some cases, smartphones were being introduced as young as three years old.
This early introduction to smartphones has "dramatically reshaped childhood and adolescence", according to new research published in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.
Using survey data from more than 100,000 18 to 24-year-olds, researchers found that the younger those surveyed got a smartphone, from the age of 13 and under, the worse their mental health was.
The specific symptoms reported included suicidal thoughts, aggression and detachment from reality.
When asked what they thought about the findings, the teens BTN High spoke to said it made sense.
"Especially because a lot of the platforms I use, like Instagram, can be a little addictive … it's hard for me to put it down," Lily, 15, said.
"I remember in year 10 I was really at my lowest and I think that social media was the significant contributing factor to it," Eric, 17, said.
Harsimrat, 15, said it was not just the mental health impacts.
"There are many issues like attention span," he said.
"Because even myself, sometimes in class, I just doze off because I just can't spend that much time looking at the board."
Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg led a review into phone use in schools in 2018, which has since resulted in a nationwide ban on phones in public schools.
Dr Carr-Gregg said that while the study's results were new, it was something experts had suspected.
"I think it was 2007, the Apple iPhone was launched, we started replacing a play-based childhood with a screen-based childhood," he said.
"And right across the western world … we have seen an increase in depression and anxiety and self-harm.
"Therefore, this is just a confirmation of what we already knew."
The study also recommends "graduated access restrictions," keeping anyone under 13 from having a smartphone, which Dr Carr-Gregg approves of.
"Smartphones tend to be a distraction. They do interfere with sleep," he said.
"They do create, I think, avenues for cyberbullying, extortion, those sorts of things.
"So, for me, the result is from the university of the bleeding obvious, which is why I think a restriction, a delay, on young people having smartphones is sensible."
Some of the teens BTN High spoke to also agreed it was a good idea.
Lachlan, 15, said: "It's just probably for the better in future life."
Others, like Angus, 16, weren't keen on it.
"Thirteen is past that age where we … enter high school," he said.
"I feel like phones are a big part of socialising and that sort of connection that many people rely on.
"So I think it's a bit harsh."
A "dumbphone", also known as a feature phone, is a basic device with limited functionality.
No internet browsing, no apps, no complex multimedia functions – and that's the appeal for some young people, such as 18-year-old Jameson Butler.
She is the co-founder of The Luddite Club, a group of teens in New York dedicated to promoting the conscious consumption of technology.
"My sleep schedule was off the charts," Jameson said.
"I was staying up until 3am. I was staying in my room, you know, on my phone.
"And I just felt bad … I didn't feel there were any options or ways to combat that."
Jameson said after ditching her smartphone, life improved.
"I'm more present at family dinners. I do my schoolwork faster, I have better grades, I've become a lot less scatterbrained, and I've just become a lot more driven and ambitious."
The Luddite Club has been gaining popularity.
Jameson told the ABC's Brain Rot Podcast that she was seeing Luddite Clubs starting to pop up in Florida and Philadelphia, and she had even had some enquiries from Australia.
While the dumbphone trend has been growing in the US and Europe, I want to find out if it is something young Aussies are doing too.
After sitting at the University of Adelaide for more than an hour, no young people I spoke to even knew of anyone who used a dumbphone.
"Yeah, this is too old," said one student.
Harsimrat agreed, saying, "No, that's back in the old days."
None of Dr Carr-Gregg's clients are on board either.
"I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I don't have one who's doing that," he said.
"Once you've got a smartphone, I think the likelihood of you going back to a dumbphone is very, very small.
"And that's because really the way in which my clients communicate with one another these days is through social media.
"And therefore the smartphone is absolutely essential."
Alex, 17, said a loss of connection might be putting young Aussies off.
"I think there's a big fear of missing out," he said.
"It's like if people aren't connected with their screens and social media and stuff, they … can't see what other people are posting, [what] they're doing on it.
"A lot of my friends live in different places throughout the world, and I wouldn't be able to call them on a phone like that," Lily said.
Despite social media being a major part of smartphone use, some teens, such as Alex, reckon Australia's incoming ban for under-16s won't change too many minds.
"There are other things you can do on [smartphones], like games and stuff, even though you don't have social media," he said.
Simar, 16, said in her case, a smartphone was handy for her parents to know her location because she had to walk to school by herself.
Ekaager thinks young people will keep their smartphones and find ways around the ban.
Nevertheless, Ekaager was open to giving the dumbphone trend a go, as was Eric.
"Maybe I should with the current exam season coming up," Eric said.
Lily agreed that it would be "a nice experiment to try".
And Alex said, "I'd probably struggle to, but I would maybe give it a try just to improve my mental health."
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