Jonathan Haidt on the Mental-Health Crisis and Smartphones | WSJ News

[@jasoncollin9949]

I have taught and been an administrator, for 30 years. Students on phones is a problem, but the number of teachers and staff members using phones in classrooms is also a problem, if not bigger. Round and round we go...we ask the "big people" to restrict phone use of children BUT they are often the worst offenders. Thanks Jonathan.

[@cogniterra]

So true, Jonathan. And that's just the first layer. The biological research on the effects of all those accumulating hours of exposure to non-ionizing radiation is demonstrating it goes much deeper into the body and brain, affecting physiological and neurological processes.

[@ynnmth]

This is absolutely amazing and well said ; it reflects this sad reality of our society.

[@annpeterson9628]

He is correct - I had a female student almost killed herself over what someone said about her on a cellphone- I sent her to counselor to get her to throw the phone in the trash because she wouldn’t let me- counselor did nothing- it is also affects young relatives and adults- who don’t limit use!🙏☮️

[@morganingersoll7594]

Why are people even pushing back against this guy? I do not understand.

[@dwylhq874]

Simple: Zuckerberg has a *lot* to lose if people pay attention to this. 😢

[@behroozmerikhi1943]

Jonathan Haidt is right. Medium is important, as much as the media, there is great research about this, first brought up by Marshall McLuhan and well defined by Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows, what the internet is doing to our brain. And social media and smart phones are even worse, I'd argue even for adults!

[@geewelch]

Wow this guy says it exactly how it is and look how pathetic the engagement is. No hope.

[@stevechance150]

Well, consider the venue. The Wall Street Journal is 1). focused on protecting the profits of US corporations, 2). conserative leaning and therefore anti regulations (because regulations typically affect profits, see #1 above), and 3). the audience for the WSJ's product is primarily boomers, who don't care about gen z.

[@bethgriesauer3825]

​@stevechance150 Not true that "boomers" don't care about younger gens. That's a very pessimistic, and sad, point of view.

[@coyoteHTK]

@@bethgriesauer3825so why have they consistently taken any opportunity away for us gen zers? THE WORLD THEY CREATED HAS KILLED OUR SPIRIT. It’s too complicated, hedonistic, overcrowded, underpaid, and devoid of any real meaning. Throughout recent American history there was NO REAL INVESTMENT into the well being of future generations. The truth is, the internet and video games are better than the real world games that the “adults” play for their rent pay. PAY ENTRY LEVEL WORKERS MORE. INVEST IN THE INTERESTS OF YOUR CHILDREN. Yeah we’re addicted to games. Because hey are easier to deal with than insufferable boomers and genxers

[@layson9061]

A

[@stevemartel4729]

The people who say it is not a problem, have no children in the preteen, teens who have been raised by the algorithm…

[@nicolew5543]

Just leaving a comment in my futile attempt to assist the algorythm in getting this out there... May the odds be ever in our favor

[@sandraprice3426]

He is right, and he didn’t even have time to discuss how additive these devices are for little children, not just older kids. In restaurants, waiting trims, in carts at the grocery store, on planes, I see parents putting their children on these devices. What happened to reading a book for entertainment or pulling out paper and crayons? Telling stories! We are just starting to wake up to the enormous impact of these devices.

[@DanielBjorndahl]

To be fair, in certain public places this is ok, but it should never be done at home to resolve behavior

[@brockreynolds870]

At the end when he was talking about young people watching stories... I immediately thought to me childhood and teenage years when I would watch The Young and the Restless and Knots Landing. Memoerable experiences I still remember today, a few actors from The Young and the Restless are even friends with me on facebook. Those are all positive things, I would sit and watch with my MOTHER. Memoerable bonding time.

[@miakay327]

8:59 is my favorite point.

[@masterchinese28]

I like his idea about hardware communicates to the websites to know whether it is the device of a minor.

[@alexeykulikov2739]

The number of views of this reflects the scope of the disaster. The most reputed news outlet in the world interview on the hottest subject (as a father and educator) gets 3,2K vews, 92 likes and 4 comments… This species is doomed.

[@helenahanley]

The parents have their eyes on other websites. Another issue is people are getting news from other social media or Internet forums.

[@ko-dd5cp]

What about Bad Therapy book hypothesis?? It could be both, but would be great to hear response!

[@DouglasCoombsNM]

He has responded to that and does say that bad therapy has a role. I think both Abigail Shrier and him believe that their hypotheses are complimentary and that the negative trends reinforce each other.

[@AdrianaDelaVega]

¡Estoy de acuerdo! Hablar de la muerte en general es complicado y peor aún de ideas suicidas, como madre puedo decir que me es difícil hablar con mi hijo del tema (temor) y como psiquiatra se que es necesario y muy importante que se tengan estrategias necesarias para enfrentar las situaciones relacionadas, compaginar ambas cosas será lo mejor, ser madre y psiquiatra, sin embargo es genial saber que no se necesita que yo o alguien más esté presente y que cualquier persona pueda tener herramientas para enfrentar situaciones relacionadas las 24 horas me genera mucha tranquilidad.

[@Dotdiversity55]

You are right sir

[@AK-nw7tr]

Far as educational testing, if US scores tanking since 2012, Secretary of Education better do something after 12yrs of data. Time for policy overhaul.

[@xiaogeju2011]

Jonathan Haidt has young fans in Germany.... I heard about his survey through one young student...

[@vivektulja4516]

We are in a great hurry to monetize new technologies but at what cost? We pay no attention to the social-political consequences of new technologies. Now AI is coming, and there is no discussion on how to regulate it. God help us.

[@robertjamesonmusic]

Yeah, I’m sure the Wall Street Journal really cares about peoples mental health 😂

[@BillyBob-tr3jr]

No but Haidt sincerely seems to.

[@verano21]

only if its good for the economy (which it actually is increasingly hahah)

[@verano21]

this comment was brought to you by BetterHelp

[@alexeykulikov2739]

They bring the subject up at least

[@schwipsy]

the thing is, even if it is economically beneficial on the short term, on the long term it will not be, since it will make bad workers, so it it's in their best interest too, surprisingly

[@AK-nw7tr]

This was foreseen by scifi writers decades ago too. Virtual addicts.

[@LoveOz97]

Well sum up the AI modern society

[@travcat756]

Maybe People like Trump not smartphones

[@rogershuttleworth7669]

Haidt skews his figures by restricting the scope of his presentation to figures that go back no 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?

[@trustoldpaths1415]

John 14 King James Version 14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

[@SaudiaFerguson]

Can I die yet??? Due to social media???

[@stevechance150]

Oh yes. It seems odd to me that you would ask that. Have you not heard of teens that were bullied online and ended up committing suicide? And it's not like the old days, before smart phones. I had a bully in high school. And when the bell rang at 3 PM I didn't have to deal with him until 8 AM the next morning. With social media, our kids have to put up with bullies 24/7. Kids today can wake up at 7 AM and discover that they've been attacked by bullies while they were sleeping. And with convincing photoshopped images, aided by AI, the bullied can make the target teen appear to have done any disgusting thing.

[@SorminaEriana]

Top😎