The Anxious Generation
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
About the Book
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that adolescent mental health began to deteriorate sharply around 2012, driven by the shift from a play-based childhood to a phone-based one alongside overprotective real-world parenting. He compiles international data and proposes four norms, including no smartphones before high school and no social media before age sixteen, addressed to families, schools, tech companies, and governments.
Where Ryan Has Discussed This Book
- The Ryan Vet Show Lenore Skenazy: Free Range Kids and Why Overprotection Is the Real Danger
We convinced ourselves that childhood is more dangerous than ever, right as crime hit historic lows. Lenore Skenazy, founder of Free Range Kids and president of Let Grow, joins The Ryan Vet Show to ex
- The Ryan Vet Show There Is No Such Thing as a Fragile Child: What We Created When We Tried to Keep Kids Safe
We didn't raise a fragile generation. We renamed discomfort as danger, then removed the very experiences that make kids strong. The contrarian case for why there is no such thing as a fragile child. G
- The Ryan Vet Show Kevin Stinehart: Rebuilding Recess and Why Play Is a Developmental Need, Not a Want
We engineered the friction out of childhood, then acted surprised when kids could not handle it. Kevin Stinehart, the third grade teacher and play advocate featured in chapter 11 of Jonathan Haidt's T
