The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness /
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024Copyright date: 2024Description: 385 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593655030
- 0593655036
- 2000-2099
- Children -- United States -- Social conditions -- 21st century
- Internet and children -- United States
- Social media -- Psychological aspects
- Child mental health -- United States
- Child development -- United States
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General
- Child development
- Child mental health
- Children -- Social conditions
- Internet and children
- Social media -- Psychological aspects
- United States
- 305.230973 23/eng/20231227
- HQ792.U5 H23 2024
- 467
Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Loan | Coeur d'Alene Library Adult New Book | Coeur d'Alene Library | Book | 305.2309 HAIDT (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Checked out | 06/06/2024 | 50610023804813 | ||
Standard Loan | Coeur d'Alene Library Adult New Book | Coeur d'Alene Library | Book | 305.2309 HAIDT (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 2 | Checked out | 06/01/2024 | 50610023804904 | ||
Standard Loan | Hayden Library Adult Nonfiction | Hayden Library | Book | 305.23/HAIDT (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Checked out | 06/04/2024 | 50610024727666 | ||
Standard Loan | Liberty Lake Library Adult New Book | Liberty Lake Library | Book | 305.23 HAI (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | On hold | 31421000753096 | 1 | |||
Standard Loan | Priest River Library Adult Nonfiction | Priest River Library | Book | 305.23 HAIDT (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | On hold | 50610024011343 | 1 | ||
Standard Loan | Tensed DeSmet Library Adult New Book | Tensed DeSmet Library | Book | 305.2309 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | In Processing | 50610023757011 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
From New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind, an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.
"Erudite, engaging, combative, crusading." -- New York Times Book Review
"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." -- Wall Street Journal
"[An] important new book...The shift in kids' energy and attention from the physical world to the virtual one, Haidt shows, has been catastrophic, especially for girls." --Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times
After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?
In The Anxious Generation , social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the "play-based childhood" began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the "phone-based childhood" in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this "great rewiring of childhood" has interfered with children's social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.
Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the "collective action problems" that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.
Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes--communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children--and ourselves--from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-367) and index.
Introduction: Growing up on Mars -- Part 1: A tidal wave -- The surge of suffering -- Part 2: The backstory: the decline of the play-based childhood -- What children need to do in childhood -- Discover mode and the need for risky play -- Puberty and the blocked transition to adulthood -- Part 3: The great rewiring: the rise of the phone-based childhood -- The four foundational harms: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction -- Why social media harms girls more than boys -- What is happening to boys? -- Spiritual elevation and degredation -- Part 4: Collective action for healthier childhood -- Preparing for collective action -- What governments and tech companies can do now -- What schools can do now -- What parents can do now -- Conclusion: Bring childhood back to Earth.
"After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on most measures. Why? In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the play-based childhood began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the phone-based childhood in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this great rewiring of childhood has interfered with children's social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the collective action problems that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood. Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes -- communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children -- and ourselves -- from the psychological damage of a phone-based life." --
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction: Growing Up on Mars (1)
- Part 1 A Tidal Wave
- 1 The Surge of Suffering (21)
- Part 2 The Backstory: The Decline of the Play-Based Childhood
- 2 What Children Need to Do in Childhood (49)
- 3 Discover Mode and the Need For Risky Play (67)
- 4 Puberty and the Blocked Transition to Adulthood (95)
- 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 (113)
- 6 Why Social Media Harms Girls More Than Boys (143)
- 7 What Is Happening to Boys? (173)
- 8 Spiritual Elevation and Degradation (199)
- Part 4 Collective Action for Healthier Childhood
- 9 Preparing for Collective Action (221)
- 10 What Governments and Tech Companies Can Do Now (227)
- 11 What Schools Can Do Now (247)
- 12 What Parents Can Do Now (267)
- Conclusion: Bring Childhood Back to Earth (289)
- Acknowledgments (297)
- Notes (301)
- References (339)
- Index (369)
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Booklist Review
Portable telephones were originally celebrated as a way to stay connected to friends and family. But in the early 2010s, with the onset of smartphones and their easy access to the internet, children's brains were being effectively rewired, shifting from "play-based" to "phone-based." Parents, who worked to keep their children safe from outdoor play and predators, now allowed their kids to stroll unfettered through the internet. Excessive phone use can lead to social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. For young women, Haidt writes, it can lead to depression; for young men, it can lead to existing in their own separate realities. The author admits to some benefits of online use for children, including lower rates of injury and alcohol use and a measure of intellectual stimulation, but the pluses are overshadowed by the loss of social interactions and life experiences. Academic Haidt (The Coddling of the American Mind, 2018) backs up his claims with scientific studies and graphics, and presents plans to limit the effects of smartphones by large tech companies, schools, and parents. This is a practical look at a vital topic.Kirkus Book Review
A pitched argument against the "firehose of addictive content" aimed at children via technology. Psychologist Haidt, author of The Righteous Mindand co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind, turns to the disaffection of children rendered zombielike by their smartphones and social media. "The members of Gen Z are…the test subjects for a radical new way of growing up," he writes, their sensibilities formed by the instant gratifications and instant peer-pressure judgments delivered by online outlets. Before 2009, writes the author, social media use was largely harmless, mostly a means of keeping up with friends and family, without the toxicity inherent in being constantly subject to opinions given and received--a good way to get locked into "defend mode…on permanent alert for threats, rather than being hungry for new experiences." This corresponds to the shift, beginning in the 1980s, from what Haidt calls "play-based childhood" to "phone-based childhood," one effect of which is to remove children from the socialization they would otherwise have undergone simply by one-on-one play. It wasn't necessarily phones but overanxious parents who took down the sky-high monkey bars. However, coupled with the rapid rise of addictive technology, this drove children indoors and into anxieties and depressions of their own as their lives are "radically rewired." Haidt concludes by advocating a regime of free play and strictly monitored social media use, including not allowing children under high school age to have smartphones and forming parental associations that would essentially police for this kind of behavior. That program may seem draconian, especially to a 12- or 13-year-old, but Haidt argues persuasively that it's an essential defense against the assaults on mental health that social media inflict on unformed young minds. A strong case for tempering children's technological dependency in favor of fresh air and sunshine. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. He obtained his PhD in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and taught at the University of Virginia for sixteen years. His research focuses on moral and political psychology, as described in his book The Righteous Mind . His latest book, The Anxious Generation , is a direct continuation of the themes explored in The Coddling of the American Mind (written with Greg Lukianoff). He writes the After Babel Substack.There are no comments on this title.