The Anxious Generation
Also known as The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Jonathan Haidt's 2024 case that smartphones, social media and overprotective parenting rewired childhood.
At a glance
Key ideas
A tidal wave around 2010, Children are antifragile, Four harms …
See all 5Criticism
Candice Odgers, Nature, Mike A. Males, David Wallace-Wells
See all 3Connections
Jonathan Haidt and Nassim Nicholas Taleb
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Haidt points to a sudden rise around 2010 in anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide among under-18s, as smartphones spread.
- He argues that a play-based childhood, already shrunk by overprotective parenting, gave way to a phone-based one.
- He names four harms of social media: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction.
- He proposes collective action by governments, tech companies, schools and parents, including phone-free schools.
Why it matters
- It became a long-running New York Times best-seller and has shaped laws on children and social media; many researchers dispute its causal claims.
Key facts
- Author
- Jonathan Haidt1
- Published
- 20241
- Best-seller
- 111 consecutive weeks on The New York Times nonfiction list as of June 2026; first on it five times in 20241
- Political impact
- Reuters called it the catalyst for Australia's Online Safety Amendment, which restricts social media for under-16s1
Key ideas
-
A tidal wave around 20101
Mental illness among the young rose sharply as smartphones spread, far less so among people over 30.
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Children are antifragile1
Risky play teaches children to cope; "safetyism" takes it away.
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Four harms1
Social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction.
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Spiritual degradation1
Social media lacks what spiritual practices give: shared ritual, presence, silence and awe.
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Collective action1
Phone-free schools, more recess, age limits enforced, and parents agreeing together to delay smartphones.
Criticism
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Candice Odgers, Nature1
Most evidence finds no large or consistent harm, and the link may run in reverse.
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Mike A. Males1
Called it part of a moral panic that overlooks proven causes such as abusive homes.
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David Wallace-Wells1
Trends differ between countries, and coding changes may explain the rise in recorded self-harm.
Connections
Links
Sources
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