• The Anxious Generation

  • How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
  • By: Jonathan Haidt
  • Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Jonathan Haidt
  • Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (454 ratings)

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The Anxious Generation  By  cover art

The Anxious Generation

By: Jonathan Haidt
Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Jonathan Haidt
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Publisher's summary

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

From New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind, an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“Erudite, engaging, combative, crusading.”—New York Times Book Review

“Words that chill the parental heart… thanks to Mr. Haidt, we can glimpse the true horror of what happened not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere in the English-speaking world… lucid, memorable… galvanizing.”—Wall Street Journal

"[An] important new book...The shift in kids’ energy and attention from the physical world to the virtual one, Haidt shows, has been catastrophic, especially for girls."—Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Jonathan Haidt (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Jonathan Haidt is a modern-day prophet, disguised as a psychologist. In this book, he’s back to warn us of the dangers of a phone-based childhood. He points the way forward to a brighter, stronger future for us all.”—Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Quiet

“An urgent and provocative read on why so many kids are not okay—and how to course correct. Jonathan Haidt makes a powerful case that the shift from play-based to phone-based childhoods is wreaking havoc on mental health and social development. Even if you’re not ready to ban smartphones until high school, this book will challenge you to rethink how we nurture the potential in our kids and prepare them for the world.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again, and host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking

“This is a crucial read for parents of children of elementary school age and beyond, who face the rapidly changing landscape of childhood. Haidt lays out problems but also solutions for making a better digital life with kids.”—Emily Oster, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better

What listeners say about The Anxious Generation

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Every parent teacher and teen needs to read this book

This is such a good prescriptive solution for so many things f the problems in the world today. I will be suggesting this to my congregants and friends for years to come. I love the layout of actionable steps.

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Very important

Completely convinced by the thesis and will definitely be implementing the suggestions for parenting when the time comes with my own kids. I also hope that by the time my own kids are in school that the policies recommended here are much more prevalent

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Mist for all parents

Very eye-opening. I wished I had read this years ago when my kids were smaller, guess it hadn’t been written! Recommend it highly to all parents. 

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A must read for parents

This book was “eye” opening in terms of the effects social media has on younger people. It legitimises my belief that social media is harmful, especially for younger children.

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Receipts

The first book that I’ve read that I felt has a very strong and driven point!

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Our children have been the subject of a tech experiment with terrible outcomes

One of the most important books for new parents. Let’s not repeat the mistakes made with Gen Z.

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How can one person change the world?

This is quite possibly the most important and impactful book. Anybody can read this century! Not only do you owe it, your children, you owe it to your future grandchildren and their children… Every single parent and teacher alike should be required to read this book. It doesn’t take legislationor government to make changes it takes all of us. Read this but don’t stop there. Share it. Take action.

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Wow! Every Parent Should Read THIS!

This was eye opening. Jonathan also gave me hope in that it’s not too late. Having a 14, 13 & 9 year old something can be done to help them and HOW to help them.

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critical work

finally perspective that is clear, direct, and guiding to help our children to become contributors to the world again. sharing with all who have children

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Stunning & Unsurprising

This book is an absolute must read for any parent or educator working with young people in today's world. It was stunning (yet unsurprising) to hear the statistics and outline of how smartphone and social media companies hijacked young brains capitalize on vulnerabilities to maximize their own profits and agenda. The author explains exactly how this is done in a very clear way, and provides many examples and much detail about how young minds work and how we can foster better environments for them. I really appreciate how he gave several concrete steps that parents and educators can take to protect their kids and help repair their floundering mental health. There are tons of resources at the end of the book and I'm sure at the website as well, to point people in the right direction as far as getting more information about this issue.

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