Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, is a hot seller that makes the case that smartphones and social media are largely responsible for the current mental health crisis among young people and that restricting their use below certain ages (14 for smartphones and 16 for social media) can have a positive effect on reversing or slowing the problem. A social psychologist at New York University Stern School of Business, Haidt has an ability to capture the public zeitgeist and shape thinking around contentious issues. Just this week, the US Surgeon General called for parental warning labels on social media platforms because of the potential threat to childhood mental health, a possibility bound to be resisted by Big Tech. A clearer view of the science is more crucial than ever. Haidt’s book, however, has been criticized by colleagues who dispute whether the science supports his strong claims. Meanwhile, Haidt’s ideas are reaching millions—his book has been at or near the top of The New York Times Best Sellers list for weeks and covered extensively in major media outlets—while the criticisms and countervailing data mostly appear in scientific journals.
