I did not enjoy reading this as sociology often rubs me the wrong way, though I do recognize it's value. However, as a parent of two young kids, I am glad I read this. I hope this book will spark change, so that we can give the future a healthier childhood.
I did not enjoy reading this as sociology often rubs me the wrong way, though I do recognize it's value. However, as a parent of two young kids, I am glad I read this. I hope this book will spark change, so that we can give the future a healthier childhood.
Haidt argues the introduction of smart phones around 2012, with the resulting constant access to social media, has caused the decline in teen girls' mental health around the world, along with the loss of freedom as parents became more worried about "stranger danger". Research seems pretty robust to me, even though it cannot prove causation. I'm old so I grew up without mobile phones or internet, riding my bike around the suburbs. Even if the thesis of the book is wrong, I think a free range, smart-phone free childhood is not going to kill anyone, so why not try it? The only problem is that if your kid is the only one who doesn't have a smart phone or social media, they'll feel left out. So it's good to try and get your kids' friends' parents to ban the smart phones too. As regards letting kids roam the neighbourhood, I …
Haidt argues the introduction of smart phones around 2012, with the resulting constant access to social media, has caused the decline in teen girls' mental health around the world, along with the loss of freedom as parents became more worried about "stranger danger". Research seems pretty robust to me, even though it cannot prove causation. I'm old so I grew up without mobile phones or internet, riding my bike around the suburbs. Even if the thesis of the book is wrong, I think a free range, smart-phone free childhood is not going to kill anyone, so why not try it? The only problem is that if your kid is the only one who doesn't have a smart phone or social media, they'll feel left out. So it's good to try and get your kids' friends' parents to ban the smart phones too. As regards letting kids roam the neighbourhood, I suppose it depends where you live. Haidt let his daughter walk to school in NYC from the age of 9.
It is a well written book. However, like most of these non fiction books I feel 20 pages would have been enough since the core thesis is really easy to grasp.
I read this because I am an educator and because I have a toddler that will be growing up in a world that favors screen time above all else. Some things are definitely worth considering (like allowing kids to have more unstructured time and responsibilities) but there’s almost no call to reform social media. There’s an explanation about why they are addicting and a push to get kids on it later, even some suggestions for legislation but almost nothing about protecting consumer privacy and the algorithms that highlight information about eating disorders to young users. Social media needs to be regulated. Otherwise banning screens at school will do little when kids are awake at 2am still scrolling. The book also suggests that the increase in people that are transgender is the latest “internet fad” which was an unnecessary paragraph in my opinion.
If you combine this book with Pete Etchells' Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time, you'll probably find a good balance of information on this subject. There are other books on this subject which will likely highlight other angles, I just haven't read them yet. ;)
Jonathan clearly understands the situation we are in, but appears to have very black and white thinking on this subject, which is an honestly natural and completely human reaction to watching two generations of kids seriously damaged by smartphones, in real time.
We can absolutely pull Gen Alpha back from the brink, but Gen Z will be the most scarred by indiscriminate access to social media via smartphones.
There are a couple of areas I didn't agree with at all, but I will keep those to myself as I think they are important as discussion points, but not to the extent implied.
I didn't …
If you combine this book with Pete Etchells' Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time, you'll probably find a good balance of information on this subject. There are other books on this subject which will likely highlight other angles, I just haven't read them yet. ;)
Jonathan clearly understands the situation we are in, but appears to have very black and white thinking on this subject, which is an honestly natural and completely human reaction to watching two generations of kids seriously damaged by smartphones, in real time.
We can absolutely pull Gen Alpha back from the brink, but Gen Z will be the most scarred by indiscriminate access to social media via smartphones.
There are a couple of areas I didn't agree with at all, but I will keep those to myself as I think they are important as discussion points, but not to the extent implied.
I didn't have internet access at all until my twenties, and I agree that the moment we let techbros put smartphones in our hands, we basically sold our souls to Big Tech; forever too distracted by the 24/7 pull of mobile internet to pay attention to what was happening to kids who'd never known anything else, until it had dire consequences.
