Are Smartphones Screwing Up Our Kids? A critique of Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation
/Are Smartphones Screwing Up Our Kids?
American Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt says, unequivocally, yes.
In his book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Haidt asserts the following:
In the early 2010s, the children of prosperous Western countries underwent 'The Great Rewiring' - a move from the play-based childhood to a phone-based one.
Instead of real-world exploration, risk-taking, and in-person interaction, many children started roaming online instead. And, according to Haidt, at the hefty expense of their mental health.
Recently, I did a short about The Anxious Generation, covering:
Haidt’s main argument
The rise of Safetyism and the digital gap
The Attention Economy and addictive design
Why girls and boys are affected differently
The Four Foundational Harms
Criticisms and limitations of Haidt’s argument
And what realistic solutions might look like
Are smartphones and social media as bad as we think?
