Marketa Wills

Expanding Solutions to Improve Mental Health | Global Conference 2025

Savannah Sellers, Rebecca O. Bagley, Jonathan Haidt, Bill Ready, Marketa Wills

A panel of experts, including Jonathan Haidt, Bill Reddy, and representatives from the Kennedy Forum and American Academy of Pediatrics, convened to address a global mental health crisis driven by smartphone adoption and addictive platform algorithms. The discussion outlined specific corporate countermeasures, such as Pinterest's age-restricted privacy settings and the "Inspired Internet Pledge," while contrasting them with calls for stricter federal regulations and a mandatory minimum age of 16 for smartphone ownership. Ultimately, the event proposed a multi-faceted strategy combining phone-free schools, industry-wide well-being reporting standards, and improved medical reimbursement rates to mitigate rising rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide among youth.