Kids and smartphones may be the most important conversation parents can have right now. Clinical psychologist Dr. Johann D'Souza has spent 16 years mentoring young men and thousands of hours in the therapy room, and his message to parents is simple: never give your child a smartphone. We talk about why a phone can be more dangerous than anything we worried about as kids, how video games are keeping young men from growing up, what social media is doing to girls, and why he believes the real problem is not the child but the parents. I also share how the phone ringing at our dinner table took my own dad away from me, and how Jordan and I are learning to choose calm over constant stimulation. Dr. D'Souza is the author of Saving Teens from Toxic Screens and hosts the Virtuous Leaders podcast. Visit neversmartphone.com for his free guide for parents, and tell me in the comments: when did your child get their first phone?

This episode covers smartphone addiction in teens, children and screen time, and practical ways to start protecting children from digital destruction at home and at school. We also discuss video game addiction in boys, the effect of social media on teenage girls, and how faith and like minded community can help families choose a different path.

Find more from Johann:
Free Guide for Parents: https://neversmartphone.com/
Speaking: https://johanndsouza.com/speaking
Substack: https://drjohanndsouza.substack.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjohanndsouza

Connect with me:
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Chapters:
00:00 - Why a Smartphone Is More Dangerous Than Playboy
00:27 - Welcome Dr. Johann D'Souza
02:33 - The Hardest Part of Addiction Is Sincerity
08:22 - Kids, Phones and My Dad at the Dinner Table
11:03 - Playboy in the Basement Versus Infinite Content
13:21 - From Toronto to Rome: Dr. D'Souza's Conversion and Calling
19:53 - Community: The Missing Village and Finding One Friend
23:15 - Faith Communities and Catholic School Device Policies
27:46 - What About Flip Phones?
30:19 - The Temptation to Despair as a Clinician
34:03 - Only God Knows When I'm Going to Die
41:24 - Video Games and the Failure to Launch
45:08 - Social Media and the Identity of Young Girls
48:17 - Abdicating the Duty to Form the Young
51:25 - The Real Problem: Anxious Moms and Weak Dads
53:12 - Serving Jordan Through 14 Months of Illness
1:00:25 - Grandchildren and the Gift of Familiarity
1:03:49 - Kids Want Attention and So Do We
1:09:17 - The Flipped Model: Can a Smartphone Be Used Well?
1:13:19 - My 12 Step Women's Group and Like Minded Community
1:17:35 - Where My Discipline Came From
1:24:32 - Boundaries, Prudence and Knowing Your Limits
1:31:24 - Smartphones, Breathing and the Nervous System
1:36:04 - Praying the Jesus Prayer on Patmos
1:38:35 - Jordan's Phone Habit and Practicing Sitting
1:47:04 - Closing Reflections and Prayer