Blaming youth mental health issues on smartphones is a reductionist approach that ignores the complex, multifaceted causes of anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Research identifies factors like financial hardship, structural discrimination, and exposure to violence as significant predictors of youth mental illness. Claims that the major economic crises of the last twenty years have had no lasting effect on youth mental health is flawed. They ignore how vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted by economic recessions and dismisses the broader economic legacies that harm well-being. Ultimately, blaming technology for youth anxiety distracts from addressing profound societal and political issues like the climate crisis, gun violence, and economic inequality.