Why just teens?
During your teenage years there’s a lot more FOMO as you are trying to establish yourself in your peer group and the social hierarchy in general. This must-check-that-notification then compelled them to react to it, which generates more notifications in a feedback loop.
Compare that to now, when I’m in my mid 30s, if an app generates too many notifications I will revoke its permissions to notify me very quickly, all of my social interactions are more asynchronous and slower and deeper, since I’m not being interrupted by notifications all the time and am communicating on my own terms
Arguing that the social heirarchy is meaningless is utter nonsense because our work structures, family structures, political structures, friend structures, distribution structures, financial systems AND ENTIRE CULTURE is built upon social hierarchies, and while you might argue that the social heirarchy at high school is meaningless once highschool is over, the skills gained in navigating it will persist through the persons entire adulthood.
Parents shouldn't be so dismissive of teens and their attempts to fit in and be socially normal. It's extremely important, possibly more important than academics.