Should Children Have Smartphones?

Author Haidt: Social Media is Spreading Mental Illness

New York Times Book Review: Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s erudite, engaging, combative, crusading new book “The Anxious Generation” (Z) highlights what he sees as the damage being done to our children by smartphones and social media. “I’ve been struggling to figure out,” Haidt writes, “what is happening to us? How is technology changing us?”

Smartphones and social media have taken a toll on young people’s development, Haidt points out, and has an idea about how to fix Gen Z as he investigates the sudden collapse of mental health among adolescents. You may not agree with his conclusions, but he’ll make you think.

More here at the NYT.

Wall Street Journal: “Words that chill the parental heart…  thanks to Mr. Haidt, we can glimpse the true horror of what happened not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere in the English-speaking world… lucid, memorable… galvanizing.”

Amanpour an Company YouTube channel: Haidt joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss ways for parents to head off the damage. The author argues that parents, schools, and society must keep kids off of social media:

The book is available at amazon.com