Apple urged to study iPhone addiction in children

NEW YORK — Two large shareholders urged Apple to study whether iPhones are proving addictive for children and that intensive use of the smartphones may be bad for their mental health.

“There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent young users, this may be having unintentional negative consequences” on their health, said Jana Partners LLC and California State Teachers’ Retirement System in a letter sent to Apple dated January 6 and made public on Monday.

The “growing societal unease” over the intensive use of smartphones by children is “at some point is likely to impact even Apple,” they warned.

The two shareholders, which between them own about $2 billion in Apple shares, urged the company to develop additional means for parents to restrict the use of mobile phones by their children.

“We specifically ask that Apple form a committee of experts and specialists to research and study this issue and monitor ongoing developments in technology,” the letter said.

“Additionally, we encourage Apple to offer parents more tools by enhancing mobile device software to enable ageappropriate setup options including limiting screen time, setting up parental monitoring, etc.”

The investors said confronting this issue now would enhance the value of the firm in the long term for all shareholders.

Apple has not commented on the letter, but it provides parental controls on iPhones that allow restricting access to certain apps and content.

Although Apple was singled out in the letter, the question of technology and screen time for children has long been debated.

The investors’ letter cited various studies on the negative effects of smartphones and social media on children’s mental and physical health. Examples include distractions by digital technologies in the classroom, a decreased ability of students to focus on educational tasks, and higher risks of suicide and depression.

A study published in November suggested that heavy smartphone use and social media exposure among teens may contribute to depression and other traits linked with suicide. But that and similarly designed research cannot rule out that already troubled teens may be more likely than others to be frequent users of smartphones and social media.

The letter represents a new source of pressure on Apple, after being forced to apologize last month for slowing down the performance of older iPhone models.

Consumer groups had accused the tech giant of slowing down the older models to encourage purchase of newer models, but Apple said the move was meant to optimize performance of phones with older batteries and cut the price of replacing the battery.