The cultural impact of technology has been chronicled for decades, evidenced by a yearly flow of books on the topic. Few, however, are as important as Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. The book is a must read for educators and parents, and, as Haidt writes, “for anyone who wants to understand how the most rapid rewiring of human relationships and consciousness in human history has made it harder for all of us to think, focus, forget ourselves enough to care about others, and build close relationships.” That includes all of us.
His main premise is that today’s parents are engaged in two negative trends: overprotection in the real world, and under protection in the virtual world, thus creating an epidemic of maladjusted children. Such disordered priorities result in children riddled by anxiety, depression, and an inability to engage with others in meaningful ways. The data evidence for such a conclusion is crystal clear. Haidt provides thorough research and copious studies to prove his point, helping his readers consider how to reverse this epidemic. He makes four recommendations to help solve the crisis:
- No smartphones before high school
- No social media before age sixteen
- Phone-free schools
- Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence
Smartphones, writes Haidt, fuel four foundational harms in children: Social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. “In a phone-based childhood, children are plunged into a whirlpool of adult content and experiences that arrive in no particular order. Identity, selfhood, emotions, and relationships will all be different if they develop online rather than in real life.” He provides a helpful contrast: face-to-face social interaction and relationships versus the virtual world. For example, social interaction requires embodied communities with a high bar for entry and exit; virtual interaction takes place in a disembodied world with a low bar for entry and exit. “What gets rewarded or punished, how deep friendships become, and above all what is desirable – all of these will be determined by the thousands of posts, comments, and ratings the child sees each week.” Smartphones cultivate our loves and shape our desires.
Parents may bristle at his recommendations, perhaps viewing his advice as reactionary. But his thesis is hard to refute and the data powerful. Haidt unpacks helpful tips not only for our children, but for parents as we work to develop healthy habits. “When there is ambiguity, people look to each other to see what everyone else is doing.” Parents working together in community can communicate to their children a perspective that Andy Crouch affirms in his book, The Tech-Wise Family: As believers, we are different, and we need not mirror the culture in our habits, use of time, or our priorities. With vigilance and thoughtful intentions, we can show the watching world that technology should serve our desires, not vice versa.
A professing atheist, Haidt interestingly acknowledges the power of religious commitment (regardless of the belief system). Because of his worldview, his recommendations are not always consistent with the Christian worldview. However, many of his conclusions and recommendations find congruence with Christian priorities. Regardless of the age of your children, get a copy of Haidt’s book. We would all do well to not simply ruminate on his advice, but to start to put it into practice.
In a future edition of Providence Principles, we will examine why as believers we have different standards than those of the world and how that might look in a variety of areas. Subtle pressure exists even in Christian communities and churches to “regress to the mean” in terms of our actions, speech, and practices.
