“We are forever elsewhere.” -MIT Professor Sherry Turkle wrote about life with smartphones.

Four things I intend to do in this article.

First, I will give you the overall purpose of this book (The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt).

Second, I will include the Table of Contents so that you can understand in greater detail what this book is discussing.

Third, I will share some quotes that stood out to me.

Fourth, I will tell you why I believe it is important for you to read this book.

OVERALL PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK

“My central claim in this book is that these two trends—overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.”

Jonathan Haidt is a Professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has his PhD in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. It is helpful to know upfront that Dr. Haidt is a secular Jew. So, obviously he is not writing from a Christian perspective. With that said, Dr. Haidt has done us all a huge favor in regards to his research and the dire warning that is found in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1: A TIDAL WAVE

1.The Surge of Suffering

Part 2: THE BACKSTORY. THE DECLINE OF THE PLAY-BASED CHILDHOOD

2. What Children Need to do in Childhood

3.Discover Mode and the Need for Risky Play

4. Puberty and the Blocked Transition to Adulthood

Part 3: THE GREAT REWIRING. THE RISE OF THE PHONE-BASED CHILDHOOD

5. The Four Foundational Harms: Social Deprivation, Sleep Deprivation, Attention Fragmentation, and Addiction

6. Why Social Media Harms Girls More Than Boys

7. What is Happening to Boys?

8. Spiritual Elevation and Degradation

Part 4: COLLECTIVE ACTION FOR HEALTHIER CHILDHOOD

9. Preparing for Collective Action

10. What Governments and Tech Companies Can Do Now

11. What Schools Can Do Now

12. What Parents Can Do Now

Conclusion: Bring Childhood Back to Earth

QUOTES THAT STOOD OUT TO ME

“Even when members of Gen Z are not on their devices and appear to be doing something in the real world, such as sitting in class, eating a meal, or talking with you, a substantial portion of their attention is monitoring or worrying (being anxious) about events in the social metaverse. As the MIT professor Sherry Turkle wrote in 2015 about life with smartphones, “We are forever elsewhere.” This is a profound transformation of human consciousness and relationships,”

“Overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.”

“At the turn of the millennium, technology companies created a set of world-changing products that transformed life not just for adults all over the world but for children, too. Young people had been watching television since the 1950s but the new tech was far more portable, personalised and engaging than anything that came before. Yet the companies that developed them had done little or no research on the mental health effects. When faced with growing evidence that their products were harming young people, they mostly engaged in denial, obfuscation, and public relations campaigns. Companies that strive to maximise “engagement” by using psychological tricks to keep young people clicking were the worst offenders. They hooked children during vulnerable developmental stages, while their brains were rapidly rewiring in response to incoming stimulation. This included social media companies, which inflicted their greatest damage on girls, and video game companies and pornography sites, which sank their hooks deepest into boys. By designing a slew of addictive content that entered through kids’ eyes and ears, and by displacing physical play and in-person socialising, these companies have rewired childhood and changed human development on an almost unimaginable scale.

“Thus, the generation born after 1995 – gen Z – became the first generation in history to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addictive and unstable. Succeeding socially in that universe required them to devote a large part of their consciousness to managing what became their online brand, posting carefully curated photographs and videos of their lives. This was now necessary to gain acceptance from peers, the oxygen of adolescence, and to avoid online shaming, the nightmare of adolescence. Gen Z teenagers got sucked into spending many hours of each day scrolling through the shiny happy posts of friends, acquaintances and distant influencers. They watched increasing quantities of user-generated videos and streamed entertainment, fed to them by algorithms that were designed to keep them online as long as possible. They spent far less time playing with, talking to, touching, or even making eye contact with their friends and families, thereby reducing their participation in social behaviour that is essential for successful human development. The members of gen Z are, therefore, the test subjects for a radical new way of growing up, far from the real‐world interactions of small communities in which humans evolved. Call it the Great Rewiring of Childhood. It’s as if they became the first generation to grow up on Mars. And it has turned them into the Anxious Generation.”

“This is the great irony of social media: the more you immerse yourself in it, the more lonely and depressed you become.”

“The reduction is so severe that we might refer to smartphones and tablets in the hands of children as experience blockers.”

“Girls in virtual networks are subjected to hundreds of times more social comparison than girls had experienced for all of human evolution. They are exposed to more cruelty and bullying because social media platforms incentivize and facilitate relational aggression. Their openness and willingness to share emotions with other girls espouses them to depression and other disorders. The twisted incentive structures of social media reward the most extreme presentations of symptoms.”

WHY I BELIEVE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO READ THIS BOOK

Recently I was reading, “I Cheerfully Refuse” by Leif Enger. When I was done reading the book I went online to read what others were saying about the book. I was shocked. After reading some reviews I realized that I had missed some of the most important themes in the book. I like to think of myself as a reader so I spent some time contemplating why I had done such a poor job of reading and enjoying the book.

It led me to this conclusion. I have been negatively impacted by my phone and social media. I believe that all of these distractions and amusements have shortened my attention span and decreased my desire for long, sustained reading.

So, why is “The Anxious Generation” important? It is not important just for parents or young people. The message (and the warning) of this book is for all of us.

I will also say that if you have children at home then this book is an absolute must read. Not only does it point out the harm that constant screen time is having on our kids, it also points out some changes we can make in everyday life.