Review of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is a highly informative and challenging book that presents the contribution of the author to the understanding of the problem. Haidt provides the reader with a detailed account of the changes that have occurred in the cultural, technological, and the social factors that have changed childhood and adolescence as well as the increased rates of mental illnesses.

Overview and Themes

This episode of the podcast features Haidt, a highly acclaimed social psychologist, discussing what he calls the “great rewiring” of childhood, where children are brought up in the modern society mostly through the use of technologies and new ways of parenting. Sections of the book: The book is divided into several parts each of which discusses another aspect of this rewiring and the effects it has on the state of Mental Health.

Among the topics, Haidt discusses, one of the most significant ones is the impact of technology, or more specifically social networks, on mental health of today’s youth. He stated that, due to social network sites, children and teenagers are bombarded with image, success and acceptance that is unattainable . Such exposure together with the pressure of posting a well-constructed self on the virtual platform leads to feelings of inadequacy, thus anxiety and depression.

Haidt also discusses the nature of the parenting, where he notes that it has become more protective and risky with modern parents. He argued that as a result of this shift, children are becoming less hardy and more fragile and susceptible to stress because they are not allowed to learn how to deal with manageable risks as they manage to confront them. Haidt called it ‘helicopter parenting,’ which often robs the child a chance to develop emotion coping skills that come in handy when life throws its inevitable curves.

In the same regard, another major theme depicted time and again in the book is about the ailing education system regarding child mental health. Haidt takes issue with the slender virtues of the education system that is nowadays overly focused on successful test outcomes and academic performance. He also made mention of the failure of schools to teach the kids social and emotional skills which, in his opinion, are very vital in human beings.

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The Role of Social Media

Perhaps the most engaging part of the book is the analysis that Haidt provides to do with social media and the impact that it has on people’s mental health. He provides voluminous information demonstrating how the usage of social networks that are marvelously designed enhance youthful people’s psychological health. It is however necessary for Haidt to point out that the subjects’ relationship is not necessarily causal, yet he subsequently presents satisfactory evidence for concluding there is a correlation between social media use and the degradation of mental health.

He goes further and demonstrate how social medial apps are engineered in a way that will make the user spend as much time as possible on the app. This results in continuous comparison, as people are constantly exposed to pictures of other people’s seemingly happy life. Haidt notes that this comparison always results to dejection and instilling of the feeling of low self-esteem in the intended individuals especially in the youth who are yet to develop their personalities.

Moreover, Haidt describes violence in connection with using technologies, namely, cyberbullying, which has recently been somewhat of a pressing concern due to expanded social networks’ usage. Here he talks about the aspect of people getting out of their bounds because of anonymity especially in most internet interactions. The consequences and impacts of cyberbullying can be really damaging and sometimes it results in higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicides amongst the youths.

Parenting in the Modern Age

The second set of problems, which is also discussed in the book, is Haidt’s negative view of modern parentings. He states that this change of trend as towards more protective and controlling parenting has had adverse effects on children’s well-being. Haidt is equally talking about how parents fail to let their children suffer whereby they try to protect their children in areas they could learn lessons in suffering and solving problems.

He then compares this to parenting borne from the previous generations where kids were allowed to roam, or given opportunities to experiment and fail. Having drawn this negative picture of contemporary parenting, Haidt believes the current generation of youth/millennials is less equipped to cope with adversity and more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

Haidt also briefly discusses on how culture influences child rearing practices. He talks about how parents are inclined to make sure that their children succeed in life but sometimes this leads to sacrificing the child’s well-being. There is thus this pressure that is compounded by society’s competitiveness, especially as pertains to performing well in school.

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The Education System and Mental Health

Another interesting question that is discussed in the book is the ways the education system harms children’s mental health. Haidt does not approve the attention and efforts of schools that concentrate on testing and academic achievements asserting that a majority of learners do not fit into the imposed mold of a successful student. He talks on how this leads to a culture of failure and low self-esteem in students who don’t perform creditably in traditional subjects.

Haidt also complains about the absence of the focus on the social and emotional aspects of education in schools. He however stated that apart from academic Education, schools should also teach students manners on how to deal with their emotions, relationships and stress. Haidt believes that the proper implementation of social and emotional learning within person’s curriculum could reduce some of the mental health problems in youths modern days.

The Broader Societal Context

Haidt then situates the mental-health situation in a social perspective and examines how certain changes in the society led to the deterioration of the quality of youth’s mental health. He investigates how increased economic insecurity, political division and cultural change have entailed the climate of fear that can be particularly devastating for mental health.

Haidt also talks about the media concerning people’s views and the issues surrounding mental health. He also opines that the stream of nuisance and sensationalization of news has resulted to the promotion of hopelessness and anxiousness. Haidt opined that there is a need for a constructive coverage of Mental Health issues by the Media.

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The Science Behind the Crisis

In the course of the book, Haidt uses many examples from empirical literature in support of his main points. He talks on how social media, parenting practices and the educational system impact mental health and research done on the biology and psychology of anxiety and depression.

In reacting to this research, Haidt is sensitive to avoid painting a black and white picture about the state of mental health today although he sees a clear link between cultural processes and emotional suffering. He also emphasizes on the limitations of the study pointing out that despite the compelling evidence that he avails to support the arguments of the study there is so much that is still unknown about the causes of mental illness.

Possible Solutions and Recommendations

Finally, in the last few chapters of the book, Haidt provides solutions to the crisis that affects mental health. In this case he recommends both parents, educators, and policy makers to play a proactive role that would increase support for children and adolescents.

In order to help their children to become moral and form their own morality, Haidt suggests parents to be less overprotective and let the child make mistakes but also to be there to guide the child. He has also warned that so many children spend excessive time on social networks, therefore, the parents should ensure that their kids engage in more face-to-face communication and, more effectively, encourage the children to exercise.

As for educators, Haidt proposes increasing the focus of schools on the social and emotional aspect of learning. He only recommends that our schools do not only make their children academically excellent but to also impart to them what is best for their emotional intelligence, relationship and their overall well-being. He also advises to pay less attention to exams and develop the concept of success which would take into account abilities of every learner to reveal it and develop.

In his tips to the policymakers, Haidt suggests that more attention should be paid to the issue of mental health. This is because he recommends that policies should reflect the importance of mental health of youth including prevention and intervention. Haidt also encourages more spending on the mental health programs; especially for children to facilities in schools and to people in community settings.

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Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Comprehensive Analysis: In my opinion, Haidt gives a comprehensive account of the possible causes of mental health issues affecting the young generation in the modern society. Looking into the effects of technology, parenting, as well as the education system his arguments are backed up by numerous credible scientific findings.
2. Balanced Perspective: Haidt does not stereotypically portray the mental health problem and the causes of such a crisis, including biological and social factors. He is cautious not to complicate things but equally he does not sensationalizes what the young generation is facing in today’s society.
3. Actionable Recommendations: The book contains very useful advice for parents, teachers, and governing bodies; thus it is a definite must-read for anyone wishing to deal with the problem of declining mental health. The recommendations that Haidt gives, are evidence based and very clear about what needs to be done in order to improve the conditions for young people.
4. Engaging Writing Style: The way Haidt writes is simple and entertaining and he explains complex ideas in a way that is lucid. When making points, he supports these with real life models and everyday incidences, which is quite appropriate and will make the readers connect to the writer’s case.

Cons:

1. Limited Focus on Diversity: Al though Haidt has explained the mental health crisis in a detailed manner, his understanding is limited to the western civilization. The book does not explain in details how these issues may vary in other cultural settings which may reduce the books appeal to the global community.
2. Potential for Overgeneralization: Overall, Haidt’s analysis of the negative influence of the modern parenting and the education system is well grounded and, at the same time can be considered as over-generalized. Of course the parents and the schools he talks about are not all like that and some may feel left out from the picture painted by the author.
3. Heavy Reliance on Correlation: Nevertheless, it is interesting to see Here Haidt stresses that causality cannot be inferred from correlation, but often he uses correlational data as his main evidence. This could make some readers to wonder about the amount of proof that existed to support his proposition.
4. Limited Exploration of Solutions: Although Haidt provides helpful advice, some of the readers may feel that the book is not radical enough to present possible ways for addressing the mental health issue. It must be pointed out, however, that the proposed solutions may not effectively deal with systemic causes of the problem.

Conclusion

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is an important and relevant read for anyone interested in the topic of children and their mental health. In this crisis, Jonathan Haidt gives an elaborate account of the causes of the rise in mental illness, primary aspects of technology, parenting, education systems. Nonetheless, it is a source of rich information that offers many helpful suggestions for those who are interested in dealing with the problems of young people’s mental health.

This book by Haidt is a balanced take on the problem, the author’s lively writing, and the research’s comprehensiveness make this book relevant to parents, educators, policymakers, and anybody interested in the factors affecting the mental health of future generations. However, it would be important for the readers to note the covers of the book and these include the fact that is mostly about western societies and that mostly uses correlational data. Thus, although there are certain shortcomings to the approach of The Anxious Generation, the work can be considered valuable and inspiring as a contribution to the debate on mental health and the young people in today’s society.

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