Children's Health has released a report on the quality of life of kids in North Texas. This was the 19th edition of the report called, "Beyond ABC: Assessing Children's Well-Being in North Texas," which is produced as a partnership with the University of Texas at Dallas Institute for Urban Policy Research.
Since 2019, the percentage of kids living in poverty in Dallas County has dropped from 23.3% to 20.6%; the poverty rate in Tarrant County has dropped 17.1% to 15.3%.
"These numbers represent thousands of children whose futures look brighter because of the work our community has done and continues to do," says Children's Health Chief Executive Chris Durovich.
But among the eight counties that make up the Metroplex, the report says the number of young people without a permanent home has increased from 7,248 in 2020 to 9,468 last year, an increase of 30.6%.
"We can make a difference by addressing housing instability and improving access to nutritious food," Durovich says.
The report says the figures can serve as a "a stark reminder of the urgent need for affordable housing options and family support programs that promote stability and long-term well-being."
For education, the report says 90.3% of students in Texas graduated high school on time in 2023, the highest rate on record. The report says pre-K enrollment has rebounded from a low point reached in 2021 after the pandemic, and kindergarten readiness rates have improved over the past year.
But the report says most counties have fewer students passing STAAR tests, and third grade reading proficiency dropped across the area last year.
Children's Health worked with Zach Rausch, the senior research scientist and managing director of the Tech and Society Lab at New York University's Stern School of Business, and Jonathan Haidt, the author of Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness on the presentation.
They say almost 20% of kids in the United States now has a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. They say 21% of kids in Texas have "seriously considered suicide."
The report says discipline cases involving alcohol or drugs at schools in North Texas increased from 2020 to 2024, and "rates of emotional and behavioral health challenges continue to rise across North Texas."
Rausch says constant connectivity may be hurting kids' mental health.
"The big difference between Gen Z and Millennials is Millennials grew up in that pre-period," he says. "You went through puberty with a flip-phone in your pocket. A flip phone didn't have a front-facing camera, no internet, no Instagram, you had to pay for texts."
He says many young people say they would like to leave social media, but they feel pressure to stay constantly connected. He says if kids are not available online, they may be disconnected from their social group, so they keep participating even though social media use can lead to kids being more likely to become depressed.
"Many young people know these products are harming them," Rausch says. "There's this quote by a Gen-Z poet that says, 'I know it's poison, but I drink it anyway.'"
Rausch and Haidt say 25% of kids between the ages of five and seven now have smartphones. They encourage parents to set limits on their use.
"Boundary setting is really the biggest thing you can do," he says. "Around meal time, you could have no devices during meals. In the bedroom is the other place where the biggest issues are happening and the sleep-loss that comes with it."
Rausch and Haidt say other countries have seen kids connect more socially after limiting their access to smartphones and social media. This year, Brazil adopted a law restricting students' access to smartphones in elementary and high schools. In December, a law in Australia will restrict social media sites to kids 16 and older.
They say 40 states have adopted some form of "phone-free school" legislation in the past 18 months. In Texas, a law took effect this June banning students from using phones, smartwatches and tablets during the school day.
"We're seeing early sings things are working. Kids are connecting more," he says. "They're hearing laughter in the hallways again."
The report showed half of kids and young adults representing Gen Z wish Twitter and TikTok did not exist. About 40% wish Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram did not exist, and 21% wish they did not have smartphones.
The complete report is available here.