Apple pushed to study harmful effects of smartphone on children
Apple’s biggest shareholders are cornering the Cupertino giant towards studying the side effects of smartphone addiction on children. The shareholders are apparently concerned about the possible health crisis that the system could have on children as well as to the image of the companies.
According to a report published by Fortune, the activist investor who goes by the name of Jana Partners LLC along with the California State Teacher’s Retirement System in a letter to Apple has attempted to push the company towards creating different ways through which parents could restrict the use of smartphones for their children.
The shareholders have further urged the Cupertino giant to study the effects of heavy usage on mental health that smartphones end up affecting. “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,” according to the letter from the investors, who combined own about $2 billion in Apple shares. The “growing societal unease” is “at some point is likely to impact even Apple.”
“Addressing this issue now will enhance long-term value for all shareholders,” the letter said. Numerous media publications attempted to get in touch with Apple for a comment on the matter. However, the company hasn’t been able to provide an opinion on the matter as yet. The report by Fortune suggests that most smartphone manufacturers are constantly looking for newer methods to kill this problem. Young individuals are often more influenced by the use of smartphones and haven’t developed the ability as yet to understand the harmful effects of the handset.
Nation-wide laws have tried curbing the different usage of smartphones. For example, France has moved to ban the use of smartphones in its primary and middle schools. However, this cannot possibly be applied to all nations as such.
