Book Review: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
The mental health of today’s adolescents is not what it was in generations past.
Sharp upticks in the diagnoses of anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, and other mental health conditions in teenagers have left families, schools, and churches feeling inadequate and unprepared to best care for members of Generations Z and Alpha. In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt (2024) locates the beginning of this mental health crisis to the years between 2010 and 2015. The premise of Haidt’s work is that this time range coincides with the dawn of the smartphone era, and the pocket-sized computers carried around by today’s teenagers are a major catalyst of their own mental unhealth. Haidt’s work is profound and important, and it expertly builds upon decades of research in order to provide simple steps that both society and individuals can take to untangle what he calls “The Great Rewiring of Childhood.”
Haidt’s main hypothesis tested throughout the book is that the dawn of the smartphone era ushered in changes to childhood that have overwhelmingly proved to be negative. He presents that these changes have made Generation Z the “anxious generation” (5), and these changes to childhood are so radical that they have the effect of children “grow[ing] up on Mars” (7) instead of Earth. The childhood experience of today is completely unrecognizable to that of fifty years ago. For example, Haidt argues that in generations past, childhood was “play-based,” and now it is “phone-based” (34-35). This change has created anxiety in children today because of the nefarious realities of the virtual world and their parents’ failure to appropriately restrict their time spent in that sphere (9).
In a well-organized presentation of data that contains compelling narratives that complement his research, Haidt guides readers through the developmental needs of children and how a phone-based childhood is an antagonist to those needs. He discusses how both genders are uniquely affected by a decline in mental health, and he shares his opinion on what humanity can do to correct a great wrongdoing in allowing technologies of connection to be unfetteredly accessible to children.
Haidt’s greatest contribution to the conversation on adolescent mental health is his suggestion of the implantation of four “foundational reforms” (15). These reforms can be enacted to address the negative effects the virtual world has bestowed upon Generations Z and Alpha. Haidt presents these four reforms: children should not obtain a smartphone before high school, children should not be able to access social media until they are sixteen, children should not be allowed to have phones in school, and children should be encouraged to partake in more unsupervised, real-world play that fosters growth and independence (15). Haidt introduces these reforms at the start of his book, and he spends the remainder of his work presenting the research that supports these reforms as the antidote to what has gone wrong in childhood today.
Haidt’s work will prove to be incredibly influential in the realms of family life, education, and spiritual care. The insight he brings to the generational conversations of today provides an expert-level presentation of the greatest threats to adolescent mental health. Haidt’s work is a must-read for all involved with youth ministry and education. Christian leaders are often quick to dismiss the mental health of those whom they lead, and The Anxious Generation can help leaders destigmatize conversations around mental health issues in Christian communities. Furthermore, Haidt spends an entire chapter discussing the positive impact that religion and spirituality can have on mental health disorders (199-218). While Haidt does not claim to be personally religious, he handles this chapter with precision, accuracy, and respect. He discusses Pascal’s “God-shaped hole” theory and connects it to answers offered in present-day religions. He presents these religious answers as remedies for anxiety and depression.
Though Haidt’s book is an important addition to mental health scholarship, it avoids arguing for the positive contributions that some technologies of connection provide to the adolescent mind. Haidt acknowledges that video games in particular offer some positive contributions to adolescent development, such as the refining of key capabilities like teamwork and problem-solving (184-187). However, he stops short of noting some of the positive elements of connection that social media can provide; Haidt’s analysis was almost completely negative. Furthermore, The Anxious Generation would have benefitted from an expanded conversation on adolescent suicide. While rising suicide rates are briefly mentioned in the book’s introduction and referenced elsewhere in the book, Haidt refrains from discussing this important mental health issue at great length.
The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is published by Penguin Press and is available in various formats from your preferred book retailer. You may purchase the hardback version, 385 pages, for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $30 USD. The book may be located using its ISBN of 978-0-593-65503-0.
