Investors push Apple to help curb young people's addiction to smartphones

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.

Jana, a leading activist shareholder, and CalSTRS, one of the nation’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.

Jana and CalSTRS also asked Apple to study the impact of excessive phone use on mental health, according to the publication. 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 the children's health.

CalSTRS and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.  The letter cited various studies and surveys on how the usage of smartphones and social media negatively affected children's mental and physical health. 

Jana and CalSTRS together control about $2 billion worth of Apple shares, the Journal reports. The social rights issue is a new turn for Jana, which is known for pushing companies it invests in to make financial changes. However, the issue of phone addiction among young people has become a growing concern in the US 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, the Journal said.  Half of teenagers in the US feel like they are addicted to their mobile phones and report feeling pressure to immediately respond to phone messages, a 2016 survey of children and their parents by Common Sense Media said. 

PARENTAL CONTROLS 

*France has moved to ban the use of smartphones in its primary and middle schools
 

*Apple already offers some parental controls which requires parental approval to buy goods and services. Restrictions can also be placed on access to some apps, content and data usage.
 

*Last week, Cupertino, California-based Apple said that all of its Mac computers and iOS devices, which include both the iPhones and iPads, faced security vulnerabilities due to flawed chips made by Intel.