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Apple urged to tackle smartphone addiction by two large investors iPhone: Apple shareholders urge company to take action over children's smartphone addiction
(about 1 hour later)
Apple shareholders Jana Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System are urging the smartphone maker to take steps to address what they say is a growing problem of young people getting addicted to Apple’s iPhones, Jana partner Charles Penner said. Apple has been told to take urgent action to curb children's smartphone addiction, amid fears that technology could be damaging the young generation.
Jana, a leading activist shareholder, and CalSTRS, one of America’s largest public pension plans, delivered a letter to Apple on Saturday asking the company to consider developing software that would allow parents to limit children’s phone use, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Sunday. The warning from two shareholders comes amid increasing concerns about how gadgets and social media could affect the young children who use them, many of whom are attached to their phones for many hours a day.
Jana and CalSTRS also asked Apple to study the impact of excessive phone use on mental health, according to the publication. Famous technologists including Steve Jobs have been reported to have been concerned about the effects of technology on their own children, limiting the amount their kids could use the internet and phones and tablets.
CalSTRS and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Now the activist investors have warned that the late founder's company needs to lead the way in giving parents and their kids more powerful ways of keeping phone use in check.
Jana and CalSTRS together control about $2bn worth of Apple shares, the Journal reports. New York-based Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or CalSTRS, said Monday in open letter to Apple that the company must offer more choices and tools to help children fight addiction to its devices.
The social rights issue is a new turn for Jana, which is known for pushing companies it invests in to make financial changes. "There is a developing consensus around the world including Silicon Valley that the potential long-term consequences of new technologies need to be factored in at the outset, and no company can outsource that responsibility," the letter said. "Apple can play a defining role in signaling to the industry that paying special attention to the health and development of the next generation is both good business and the right thing to do." 
However, the issue of phone addiction among young people has become a growing concern in the United States as parents report their children cannot give up their phones. CalSTRS and Jana worry that Apple’s reputation and stock could be hurt if it does not address those concerns, according to the Journal. The two investors collectively control $2 billion worth of Apple shares. 
Half of teenagers in the United States feel like they are addicted to their mobile phones and report feeling pressure to immediately respond to phone messages, according to a 2016 survey of children and their parents by Common Sense Media. Among their proposals to Apple: establish an expert committee including child development specialists; offer Apple's vast information to researchers; and enhance mobile device software so that parents have more options to protect their children's health. 
The phone addiction issue got a high-profile boost from the former Disney child star Selena Gomez, 24, who said she cancelled a 2016 world tour to go to therapy for depression and low self-esteem, feelings she linked to her addiction to social media and the mobile photo-sharing app Instagram. The letter cited various studies and surveys on how the heavy usage of smartphones and social media negatively affects 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. 
Reuters The investors' call reflects growing concerns around the world about what the long-term impact will be of using mobile devices and social media, especially for those who start to use smartphones at an early age. 
While tech companies have not acknowledged openly that their gadgets may be addictive, some Silicon Valley insiders have begun to speak to media about how gadgets, mobile applications and social media sites are designed to be addictive and to keep users' attention as long as possible.
Additional reporting by agencies