Jonathan Haidt: The making of an anxious generation

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt returns for the latest episode of The Brendan O’Neill Show to talk about his new book, The Anxious Generation. Jonathan and Brendan discuss how smartphones, overprotective parents and a lack of real-world interaction are doing serious damage to the young.
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[@rickbear7249]

The BIG problem is "echo chambers" that never challenge any of the ideas or beliefs that might initially sound reasonable.

[@ravenhill_firelord_1968]

most young people i see now down the street are glued to their smartphones. sad.

[@ThePontiacBandit911]

A friend of mine is an engineer, and they host lots of students getting some work experience, etc. He says that they can’t do small talk. The usual twaddle we all find ourselves participating in, like, the weather’s nice/rainy; nice weekend, etc. He said they’re glued to their phones, and don’t know how to interact with the adults around them. Small talking properly, is a life skill.

[@marilyngibson8277]

What an absolutely brilliant podcast! Loved it! Thanks to Brendan O’Neill and Jonathan Haida.

[@RealGeorg3]

Great interview. Interesting nugget of information, about the teenage brain becoming more myelinated and that process might be coming at the cost of unused potential.

[@Vates104]

I am the same age as Mr Haidt. I was introduced to the Great Books of the Western World and The Harvard Classics and other similar sets when I was 12 years old. I wish that young people today could discover books. Yes, I was precocious but I grew up without television.

[@Vates104]

Fascinating discussion

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

I`m nearly 62 and most of the young Uni Aussies i work with aren`t woke at all thank fuck

[@tim2muntu954]

The smart phone enabled a hive mind - a crowd, that, like all crowds demands acquiescence in the sacrifice of the innocent, and hence surrendered personal integrity. as the price of "inclusion". For further details, refer Rene Girard.

[@markhutton6055]

Phones are not the cause. They certainly made things worse, but there are a number of causes. 1. Safetyism - killing off risk assessment and mitigation. Loss of risky play. Development of fear, and the failure to learn how to cope with fear. 2. Promotion of worry, and offense. The loss of the "stiff upper lip". 3. Others Read also "Bad Therapy" -Abigail Shrier.

[@Poppy-gq7lf]

I am pregnant with my first, I hope by the time they reach teenagehood lots of these issues around technology will have been straightened out a bit!

[@marilyngibson8277]

But don’t forget that you, as a mother, will have a huge input into the life and wellbeing of your child. Remember the points that Jonathan Haidt made about childhood play and the importance of being outside playing, and with other children, taking a few risks etc. so important. Best wishes for you and your future child.

[@Poppy-gq7lf]

@@marilyngibson8277 Hey thanks! Live in a rural coastal town in a friendly community and have an English outdoorsy lifestyle so should be ok. Leaving work to raise family too. Baby won't get an ipad to play on.

[@pendorran]

Literally no questions or discussion about possible remedies???

[@lechenaultia5863]

Step away from your phone!

[@welshhibby]

There isn’t any…the west is collapsing.

[@marilyngibson8277]

Jonathan Haidt did make mention of the importance of children playing, and playing outside, socialising, taking risks etc. it’s about being in the real world where we, as humans, belong and learning through play how to cope with our world, our environment and with other people. He pointed out parenting styles and how today it is far more on the permissive side with few, if any, rules and boundaries. That is not what children need. Children need rules and boundaries. So the upshot is, get children off social media to a great extent, get them out and about in the real world, and tighten up your parenting by actually being a parent and not their best buddy, and by setting boundaries and sticking to them.

[@MrJohnm2009]

@lechenaultia5863 sums it up perfectly 😁put your phone down, get up, get out, look around you, engage in real-world activities. I think this is as true for adults as it is for kids.

[@rogershuttleworth7669]

Haidt skews his figures by restricting the scope of his presentation to figures that go back no further than the year 2000 to make it look as if there is a clear connection between smartphones and social media and the uptick reported depression and self-harm. In the 1980's and 1990's the recorded rates of reported youth depression and self-harm were actually higher at their peak than they are now. All of this long before modern social media and smartphones even existed. And if you go back even further than that you find other peaks that are almost as high but bear in mind some of them are likely to be even higher than the official figures because in the early 20th Century depression and self-harm rates for groups such as blacks or immigrants were very likely not much figured into those studies. As for suicide, Haidt never tells you that suicide rates remained stable or regressed in other first world countries with access to social media, or that US suicide rates are almost at any even level with those of the 1950s. Gee, that whole "we are living in a time of unprecedented teen depression and self-harm" claim of Jonathan Haidt's is suddenly not looking so unprecedented now, is it?