As conversations continue to swirl about potential bans on social media for young children and teens, a new video has been released to once again raise awareness of the time spent on electronic devices.

Jeff Gauthier and his 15-year-old son, Kaiden Orth, were among the participants featured in The 5.2 Project video. Producers set up cameras to track three teens throughout an entire day.

“I felt like I just related to it a lot, and it would be cool to be a part of … something this large,” Orth said while speaking with CityNews.

An earlier study conducted for Rogers, the parent company of CityNews, as part of a multi-year screen break initiative, found that youth spend, on average, 5.2 hours a day on cellphones. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends a two-hour screen time maximum per day for children between five and 17 years old.

Based on the study average, Rogers commissioned producers to put together 5.2-hour films on each of the three teens for a parent to watch.

“I think I described it as riveting, but that was sarcastic because it wasn’t. It was more like mind-numbing,” Gauthier said when asked about watching the final product.

Producers said Orth ended up spending eight hours and 21 minutes in total on his phone. The teen said he generally spends a large amount of time using social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat, and also enjoys using Netflix.

“I thought it was crazy. I didn’t think it would be that much,” Orth said.

Adriana, another teen featured, was tracked spending 13 hours and 15 minutes on her phone, while another participant, Seren, spent six hours and 22 minutes on her phone.

Gauthier, who works in the mental health field, said he’s uneasy with excessive device usage.

“I think about it like air in a balloon representing time, and if all the air is squeezed into being on your phone, what are you missing?” he said.

“They call it social media, but I don’t know what’s social about sitting alone in your room by yourself.”

Dr. Dana Sinclair, an author and a licensed performance psychologist in Toronto, said that with such a strong phone-based culture, it can spell difficulties for younger people.

“Phones are great when they’re helping you be productive and efficient, but it has led to a lot of anxiety and depression as well,” she told CityNews.

“I think when you have a lot of time on your own, scrolling through things, there’s this emotional preoccupation with what other people are doing, what other people are thinking, what you think they’re saying, and the comparison sometimes becomes a bit overwhelming … and there’s a lot of tension and mental clutter that are produced by that which prevents people from getting out and advancing themselves.”

At the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition in Toronto, Dr. Alexia Polillo is among the scientists and health professionals following the impacts of technology on younger individuals. When asked about potential cellphone and device addiction in Canada, she said it’s not “a straightforward answer” because research and datasets are rapidly evolving.

“Most of what we know when we look at associations between screen and health is in relation to screens and the length of time that people spend on their screens. But we don’t know a lot about how it’s being used, we don’t know what types of content people are looking at, we don’t know if they’re using it in ways that are beneficial and positive,” Polillo told CityNews.

“We live in this world right now where we’re on screens constantly: whether it’s in the context of work or healthcare and things like that. So simply looking at the time that people spend on screens may not be an accurate kind of predictor of worse mental health or physical health.”

Polillo used an example raised during a conversation with youth who turn to YouTube to listen to music at night to fall asleep.

“I had never thought of that, and so they’re going to have really high screen use while they sleep, but they’re not actually using the screen, right? They’re sleeping and listening to music, and sure, maybe that does disrupt their sleep, but that’s a whole other thing,” she said.

The scientist said she’s more concerned about the impacts of social media on youth versus solely looking at device time, adding that it, too, is a complex problem.

“When we do look at the studies that are looking at social types of social media platforms and things like that, we are seeing small to moderate associations with anxiety and depression, less physical activity, worse sleep,” Polillo said.

The movement to raise awareness about electronic device usage comes as the federal government is working on separate pieces of legislation to address online privacy and online harms. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government also promised a national AI strategy.

The potential online harms bill could include age restrictions for access to social media, like the ban for those under 16 introduced in Australia last year. The government is also considering whether to include AI chatbots in any ban.

Federal Liberal Party members recently passed a non-binding resolution calling for a ban, and Culture Minister Marc Miller said in April the government was “very seriously” considering it. 

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra recently said that his province would work closely with the feds on such a ban, and was also considering implementing an “outright ban” of cellphones on school properties, with some medical exemptions.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew recently stated his government will move to ban children from using social media accounts and artificial intelligence chatbots.

When asked about a potential social media ban, Polillo, who also co-authored a study on cyberbullying, questioned the effectiveness of a ban as the sole response to the problems associated with various social apps.

“One of the things that I’ve talked to a couple of different groups about is, are we able to kind of even enforce a ban?” she said.

“I don’t think the word ‘ban’ necessarily is the most youth-friendly term either. I think that something needs to be done. It’s just what makes the most sense, and it’s likely going to be a [multi-pronged] approach that involves education and working with parents as well.”

Meanwhile, Sinclair and Polillo said they hope children and parents can work together to adjust habits.

“I want people to put the phone down, get outside, do something like read a book, go be social, learn an instrument, do your homework. These are things that are going to be helpful for your mental and your physical health. We’ve got to start paying attention to this,” Sinclair said.

“I think it’s so important to have youth involved in this conversation … because they have been using screens in social media for most of their lives,” Polillo added.

“If we can get parents to modify their behaviour that may trickle down to their children, and we do see now some more parenting studies that are coming out that show parental monitoring is associated with better health outcomes, positive parenting practices, and then also education around digital health literacy.”

Orth and Gauthier said they have taken that type of advice to heart in the weeks since participating in the film.

“We play board games pretty regularly in general. This week, [Orth]’s had hockey tryouts, so that’s really been the focus. There’s been a lot of ice time, so that gets them up and out and active,” Gauthier said before sharing a message directly to parents and kids.

“I’d like folks to not feel guilty or responsible. I think that’s a big message to be able to start conversations, right? I think that this can ignite some of the communication between parents and young people. I mean I recognized myself that I was on my phone a lot, which was unintended.”

“Have a conversation with your parents about it and see how it goes, set your phone down for one or two hours, and just like try to find something else to do,” Orth added.

With files from The Canadian Press