We have a word for alcohol addiction: alcoholic. We have a word for nicotine: smoker. We have a word for opioids: addict. Every one of those affects about 1 in 10 Americans.

We don't have a word for the addiction that affects 1 in 2.

When someone can't put their phone down, we say "she's always on her phone." We don't say "she has a dopamine addiction." When a teenager melts down over a taken-away device, we call it a tantrum, not withdrawal. We describe the symptom — the phone, the scrolling, the screen — and skip naming the disease.

We already know how this works, because we do it with every other addiction. The drinker says "I'm just a social drinker, I don't drink alone" — as if the frequency is the tell, not the need. The smoker says "I only smoke when I drink" — as if the trigger excuses the addiction. We've built a whole vocabulary for covering up dependency without ever having to say the word dependency.

The phone gets the same treatment. "I just use it for work." "I'm just checking the time." "Everyone's on their phone, it's normal." Different cover story, same function: describe the symptom, skip the disease.

Here's the comparison: alcohol use disorder, about 1 in 10 Americans. Drug use disorder — everything from marijuana to opioids to cocaine, combined — about 1 in 10. Cigarette smoking, under 1 in 10, the lowest ever recorded.

Dopamine — the cause of phone and social media addiction — 1 in 2.

We fought wars on the other three. This one doesn't even have a name people use out loud.

America is facing the biggest drug addiction it has ever seen. It has changed how we educate our children.

Here's the real data, and it's citable:

• On the 2024 Nation's Report Card (NAEP), 40% of 4th graders scored below "Basic" in reading — the largest share since 2002. Below Basic means a kid likely can't identify why a character in a story did something.

• About a third of 8th graders scored below Basic in reading — the largest share ever recorded for that grade.

• Only 31% of 4th graders and 30% of 8th graders are reading proficient — both down from 2022, which was already down from pre-pandemic 2019.

• 12th graders posted the lowest reading scores since NAEP started tracking them in the 1990s, with 32% below Basic.

• No state improved in reading at either grade level compared to 2022. None.

Parents could fix this. Parents know their kids are dopamine addicted — they see it every night at the dinner table. So why hasn't a single state turned this around? Because the parent is addicted too. You can't take the phone out of a kid's hand with the same hand that won't put its own phone down. Admitting your kid has a drug addiction means admitting you have one first. So instead, everyone covers it up with words.

It's time to say the word.

America has the worst drug addiction of all time.

Say the word. 

America has a dopamine addiction.