The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

Starting in the 2010s, adolescent mental health became a crisis of epidemic proportions—and that was even before the pandemic. Anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide are plaguing our kids and teens. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has delved into the data and thinks he knows why: cell phones and screens are taking the place of play. He looks into research studies, brain science, and our knowledge of childhood development to make the case, showing how social media particularly damages girls' mental health and causes boys to withdraw into virtual worlds, and sends up a call to collectively free young people from their phones.