Some hiring managers prioritize technical skill but its only one part of whether the interviewers "like" a candidate. There are infinite reasons someone can get turned down and only some of them are skill related.
To expect children/teens to outsmart big tech companies putting billions of dollars into getting us all addicted to our phone seems... naive. Removing availability to a vice has always been a somewhat effective strategy to mitigate temptation, i.e. food, drugs, etc.