Noteworthy reviewed The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
None
5 stars
Very thoroughly written. Excellent advice for parents and teachers.
456 pages
Italian language
Published 2024 by Rizzoli.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is a 2024 book by Jonathan Haidt which argues that the spread of smartphones, social media and overprotective parenting have led to a "rewiring" of childhood and a rise in mental illness. Haidt argues that the combination of the decline of play-based childhoods, exacerbated by what he describes as overprotective parents, and increasing smartphone use has been harmful to children since the late 2000s. In an interview during the WSJ's Future of Everything Festival, he advocates banning smartphones in schools, arguing for feature phones with limited features instead.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is a 2024 book by Jonathan Haidt which argues that the spread of smartphones, social media and overprotective parenting have led to a "rewiring" of childhood and a rise in mental illness. Haidt argues that the combination of the decline of play-based childhoods, exacerbated by what he describes as overprotective parents, and increasing smartphone use has been harmful to children since the late 2000s. In an interview during the WSJ's Future of Everything Festival, he advocates banning smartphones in schools, arguing for feature phones with limited features instead.
Maddie reviewed The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Some decent points, overall an overhyped book
I read this because I am an educator and because I have a toddler that will be growing up in a world that favors screen time above all else. Some things are definitely worth considering (like allowing kids to have more unstructured time and responsibilities) but there’s almost no call to reform social media. There’s an explanation about why they are addicting and a push to get kids on it later, even some suggestions for legislation but almost nothing about protecting consumer privacy and the algorithms that highlight information about eating disorders to young users. Social media needs to be regulated. Otherwise banning screens at school will do little when kids are awake at 2am still scrolling. The book also suggests that the increase in people that are transgender is the latest “internet fad” which was an unnecessary paragraph in my opinion.