Smart phones and anxiety: Down in Alabama

Teens, smart phones and anxiety

The hot topic of mental illness among teenagers was brought before state lawmakers on Wednesday, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

The particulars here are nothing new. Studies and reports have shown depression among teenagers is up. So are visits to ERs because of self-harm. And we know the world has replaced a whole lot of real life with smart phones.

Just how related are those things? Public-health experts largely believe there’s connection. Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has said adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media are twice as likely to show symptoms of anxiety or depression. This year, a mainstay on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list is Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.”

With that as a backdrop, Alabama Mental Health Commissioner Kim Boswell included teen mental health during a broader discussion at an informal budget hearing with Alabama lawmakers.

Using proposed solutions from “The Anxious Generation,” Boswell bent lawmakers’ ears with a few recommendations. They included a ban or restriction on cellphone use in public schools (and as we mentioned here last week, some schools and school districts are already making or considering those steps). Other recommendations that are also aimed at parents include not letting students have a smartphone before high school and keeping them off social media until after they’ve turned 16.

How much might we expect lawmakers to do on the subject is anyone’s guess. But health experts are concerned about social media replacing real, live social interaction.

Said Boswell: “I think you have to convince parents that it’s not the best thing for kids to have access to phones all the time,” Boswell said. “To go back to some of the things that we used to do. Getting them engaged in sports. Getting them engaged in activities playing with other kids, connecting with other kids.”

Checking in on District 2

When a federal court ordered that Alabama redraw part of its Congressional map, the point was to create another district in the state that would give Black residents the upper hand in selecting the candidate they’d like to have represent them in the U.S. House of Representatives.

And apparently the court meant it, because it rejected an effort from the state Legislature and had an appointed team redraw the map again. The result, in effect, was a District 2 that would almost certainly deliver a second Democratic Congressperson from Alabama.

Well, we might not ought to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Alexander Willis of the Alabama Daily News reports that political-science experts are pointing to several things that could keep the seat red next year.

And maybe the biggest factor is the race at the top of the ballot: Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump for president. Which of those candidates is energizing his own voters vs. incentivizing others to vote against him?

Said Auburn University professor Joseph Aistrup: “You look at those two excitement levels, and the Democrats are lower right now than the Republicans, so I think that’s something that cuts against (Democrat Shomari) Figures in this race. That’s the key national issue that’s going to affect this race.”

A January poll by Suffolk University showed that 18% of Democratic primary voters described themselves as “very enthusiastic” to vote for Biden in November, and 44% of Republican voters said the same about Trump.

Biden’s debate performance and Trump’s surviving an assassination attempt have certainly not equalized those numbers any.

Jess Brown was a long-time poly-sci professor at Athens State University. He predicted that Trump’s base would turn out but that “Biden is not a comparable catalyst for African-American turnout, but if the Democrats change horses and nominate (Vice President Kamala) Harris, the dynamics of African-American voter turnout will change and probably be increased slightly.”

Despite all that, we still could call Republican candidate Caroleene Dobson an underdog against Democrat Shomari Figures. Analysis of past election statistics shows that the Black-preferred candidate would’ve won 15 of the past 17 Congressional elections in the current district.

For those awaiting Birmingham’s take on Gaza ...

The Birmingham City Council has joined some other cities across the U.S. by passing a resolution of support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, reports AL.com’s Greg Garrison.

The resolution also calls for “the release of all hostages.” Hamas reportedly took more than 200 hostages during its terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

Pro-Palestinian groups have lobbied the council for months to support a ceasefire.

Quoting

“He always used to say, ‘Don’t let somebody who lives in their mom’s basement determine how you feel.’ So I’m not gonna let a guy who plays golf all day determine how I feel.”

A laughing Tyler Booker, an Alabama offensive guard, talking at SEC Media Days about Nick Saban’s picking Georgia and Texas to meet in the SEC Championship.

Keep your cool

Today’s expected high temperatures are falling across the state, reports AL.com’s Leigh Morgan.

Rain might’ve already cooled it off for you some the past couple days, but there’s a front limping its way into the state that’s going to raise those rain chances. Whether and how much relief you get depends on how much rain shows up in your neighborhood.

That front could stall out while it’s here, extending that weather pattern through the weekend. Also, rain chances might stay high next week, and with the cooler-than-average temperatures. (Keeping in mind that “average temperatures” in July Alabama is a pretty high bar).

By the Numbers

$50,000

That’s the estimated value of 180 counterfeit Apple products that were seized by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department.

Nominated

Emmys: Birmingham native Walton Goggins for Lead Actor in a Drama Series (“Fallout.”)

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1938, the late actor Britt Leach of Gadsden.

In 1941 Martha Reeves of Martha & the Vandellas. Originally from Eufala.

In 1962, soap opera actress Jensen Buchanan of Montgomery. She moved to Wisconsin at a young age.

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