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The Anxious Generation

How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

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The Anxious Generation

By: Jonathan Haidt
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A TIMES, FT, ECONOMIST AND INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR

Acclaimed psychologist Jonathan Haidt reveals how the decline of free-play in childhood and the rise of smartphone use among adolescents is changing our world

From 2010, as teens traded in their flip phones for smartphones packed with social media apps, unsupervised time online soared while face-to-face conversations with friends and family plummeted, and so did mental health. This profound shift took place against a backdrop of diminishing childhood freedom and over-supervision in the real world, depriving children of the experiences they most need to become strong and self-governing adults.

The Anxious Generation delves into the latest research to show how this shift from free-play to smartphones disrupts development – from sleep deprivation to addiction – and lays the foundations of isolation and fear that define society today. Grounded in ancient wisdom and packed full of cutting-edge science and practical advice, this eye-opening book is a life-raft for anyone who wants to understand how the most rapid rewiring of human relationships and consciousness in human history has made it harder for all of us to think, focus, forget ourselves enough to care about others and build close relationships.

‘Jonathan Haidt is a modern-day prophet, disguised as a psychologist . . . He points the way forward to a brighter, stronger future for us all’ Susan Cain, New York Times best-selling author of Quiet Power

'Urgent and essential'Guardian

'One of the most terrifying books I have read . . . some of the statistics Haidt quotes are truly shocking'Evening Standard

©2024 Jonathan Haidt (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Adolescent Psychology Best of 2024 Developmental Psychology History & Culture Parenting & Families Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships Social Psychology & Interactions Technology & Society Teenagers Inspiring Health Mental Health
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Critic reviews

A very important book (Bessel van der Kolk)
Compelling, readable – and incredibly chilling . . . a terrifying assessment of the digital carnage . . . remarkably persuasive . . . a clarion-call to parents everywhere (Lucy Denyer)
A game-changer for society . . . The statistics that Haidt offers are jaw-dropping . . . although this book is about young people, it will resonate with many of us . . . I can’t recommend this book highly enough; everyone should read it (Stella O’Malley)
A book of devastating observations . . . his data is startling . . . robust scientific evidence for what we've all come to assume is true . . . it's the sheer scale of harm depicted here that should galvanise us (Simon Ings)
Forget horror; this is one of the most terrifying books I have read . . . some of the statistics Haidt quotes are truly shocking . . . a persuasive and rousing argument (Anna Davis)
Urgent and essential . . . it ought to become a foundational text for the growing movement to keep smartphones out of schools, and young children off social media (Sophie McBain)
Lucid, memorable, galvanizing (Meghan Cox Gurdon)
Erudite, engaging, crusading (Tracy Dennis-Tiwary)
All stars
Most relevant
Ok, so the book doesn’t exclusively focus on smartphones, but they make up a huge chunk of focus.

Using an evidence-based approach, Haidt explores how the current generation is being let down and the resulting consequences. This is both inadvertent (e.g., by schools and parents), and in the case of big tech companies, all too deliberate.

The problem is the impact addictive technologies such as smartphones are having during critical stages of development. For those of us who were introduced to smartphones after the age of about 14, we haven’t faced the same developmental impact.

I’ve loved every book Haidt has written, and this is no different. What I particularly appreciated here is that he isn’t taking an approach of blaming today’s kids for causing the problem themselves, as if older generations wouldn’t end up the same way in their position. Nor is he taking a new age approach of endorsing the status quo. Instead, he highlights that this is exactly what you would expect to happen when placing children into this environment. It’s up to the older generation to ensure a better environment is provided. Recommendations towards this end are clearly outlined

This book also very nicely compliments Abigail Shrier’s latest book, ‘Bad Therapy’, which takes a similar perspective on smart phones.

The perils of smartphones

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What I found particularly enlightening is what the phone has otherwise prevented kids from doing. I would have thought it was enough, for example, that schools don’t allow phones to be on in the classroom. But I never thought about the kids going immediately between each class to check their phone rather than engage with one another. So many facts were devastating that I can’t stop talking to others about this book and I have since joined a grassroots movement in the UK called Smartphone Free Childhood. Sadly, it’s a little late for my teenage girls, both of whom have battled/are battling various mental health issues but I feel fully inspired to disseminate this information to break that collective behaviour of which I too became a victim.

Irrefutable!

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I hope this book comes to be seen as one of the most important books of the decade. We all need to take this in, ask hard questions of ourselves, and push for appropriate action. Everyone should read this but especially parents. I am far from a luddite - 10+ years in tech including the last 5 in AI... Even for those of us devoting our lives to the positive impact technology can make, this book is incredibly difficult to argue with. Stop reading reviews and buy it.

Essential reading

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As ever in his books, Johnathan Haidt spells out the issues facing our society and the effects and tolls it is and has taken on the generations that have followed. i hope all schools and parents take heed and listen to some of the ideas in this book. insightful as ever in his writing, can’t recommend enough.

Sleepwalking into a mental health crisis

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Shinning a bright light on our phone based lifestyle and how it’s impacting our younger generation with practical tips on how we can change the status quo.

Brilliant

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