Jonathan Haidt's Way Forward for an Anxious Generation

When it comes to building communities that nurture the next generation, it’s hard to identify a universal standard for success. But as social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt looks at the trends among today’s children, he sees both common concerns and shared opportunities to address them.
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[@battlejitney2197]

Thanks for having secular voices like this on your podcast. Even when the guest openly reveals that his presuppositions come from an agnostic/ashiest/evolution worldview, you graciously role past the mention and work with the truths he presents. THIS is how cross-cultural conversations SHOULD play out.

[@PettsoninSweden]

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[@ebrush4669]

Oh my gosh! You're singing my song. I had a Waldorf-based preschool in a small rural community where my motto was, "We err on the side of adventure." Boy, did I have to explain to community members why it was important for the kids to climb trees, balance on bike racks, etc. Never any academics in the traditional way. I explained that childhood is like a garden and preschool is a time to prepare the soil. If I spent time on reading and writing, it would be like planting seeds before the soil was ready or still frozen from winter. Parents were so scared watching their kids use knives for making soup or fruit salad and always using breakable dishes. So much parent education! Showing them how setting the table teaches one-to-one math correlation and folding laundry (towels & washcloths) was teaching geometry. Not one of the kids in my 10 years teaching ever failed public school kindergarten with its emphasis on weekly testing. Each of them could sew buttons on by hand, use their imagination, and comprehend verbal instructions. Right on cue, following the '08/'09 great recession, parents wanted proof of learning with homework and milestones. It was so sad and I closed my school in 2011. Best years of my life!!

[@Gobothechairman]

Every single time I listen to Mr Haidt, I realize the strong relationship between things that, Dr, Haidt himself, Jordan Peterson and Daniel Schmachtenberger are talking about and how all this subjects point out towards the moral disintegration of western culture. Great episode. Thank you.

[@monkeytime9851]

Jonathan Haidt is one of the greatest minds of our age.

[@bryansyme6215]

This is a really excellent subject. I am the father of a wonderful 11 year old girl but me and my wife had her later in our life. And I find it hard to relate to the parents in our town because they just don't do things that me and my wife thought were things that kids should do. Things like sleepovers and playdates are just not done. We find it so hard to find ways for our daughter to get out and be with friends. It's like the whole generation of parents with kids my daughter's age are terrified to let their kids out of their sight.

[@alvinf6981]

Excellent presentation and good to see you learning from each other.

[@user-qf7qr1is6b]

Fabulous content. I’m excited to read the book- and I’m 73 years old.

[@brandankelly4069]

Brilliant conversation. Many thanks. 🙏

[@user-zq5eb2hj9o]

Like Jonathan said, we have a generation of kids who were always supervised and always had an adult to step in to solve their problems and if there wasn’t an adult, they were taught to go find one. The end result of that kind of childhood was what we started to see also around 2012ish when college kids were angrily screaming at college administrators for not making them feel safe enough in certain circumstances. Their whole lives they were running to find the adult and here they are at 21 or 22 years old still running to find the adult to fix their problems. It was truly shocking to see and absolutely pathetic. More and more KZbin footage would be posted from campuses that would illustrate this.

[@SpaolanseSaulo]

Excellent exchange. Congratulations.

[@anncawthon9183]

My grandchildren's public school didn't allow children to use computers until third grade. Their thinking was that children needed to learn numeracy and literacy in a social setting and from a respected adult. School is more than the three R's-- it is learning how to learn from elders with respect and how to behave in a group. Computers lessen this social learning.

[@Funkywallot]

Very important discussion. We have to equip the anxious generation with resilience and hope by watching them carefully in their daily lifes and give a lot more attention to teach real conversation

[@nicolek.7812]

I have an idea about the question of “What lead to anxious parents?” Many women in the United States, as well as young boys, have been victims of some sort of sexual violence and or harassment in their lifetime. When the movement of speaking out began, more and more people came out and shared their stories of sexual abuse with the public. Upon hearing other people’s stories, they realized that this problem and their experiences were more widespread and commonplace than they had ever imagined. These victims then grew up to become parents themselves, and they set out to make sure that their children would not have to go through what they did. Since perpetrators were often trusted individuals, such as family members, coaches, teachers, older children, it became difficult to decide who could be trusted. Thus trust in community was broken.

[@sharonkinsella7435]

This was so great! So thought provoking and inspiring. Thanks, guys!

[@skiphoffenflaven8004]

To exacerbate this trend and its effect on small college faculty, we have large numbers of high schoolers taking our college courses. That gives them the ability to once again whip out their cell phones on campus, which they cannot in high school. One sees our HS students believing they are fully mature adults at the same time not at all behaving like fully mature adults.

[@tmiller5380]

Such a great interview!

[@LMNOmic1234]

Jonathan hate is a legend love his work

[@anncawthon9183]

I should add, the grandchildren's school had consistently high test scores and people buy houses in the school's district to get into this fine system that produces successful students all the way through high school.

[@thestraightroad305]

H’mmmmm. After listening to this I had to go to prayer to take new anxieties to the Lord on behalf of my grandchildren.

[@orffrocks5667]

Sounds like Derek Trucks opening music. Great choice.

[@galenwilliamson907]

It should be noted, that in general the children raised in more conservative and faith based families tend to do better by the mental health metrics.

[@SevenRavens007]

References for the claim that anxiety is increasing?

[@999reader]

The really interesting question which Mr. Moore doesn’t ask is whether there is data on whether safetyism resulted in fewer injuries and deaths among children as a result of hightened focus on this value.

[@stephanielush9471]

Super interesting. Loved the righteous mind. However, as a nurse, I can’t agree with putting construction material in playgrounds. If we had a national healthcare system that would take care of these children if they got injured, that would be different. But we don’t.