The Anxious Generation

Why I'd hand it to you

As a dad, this one hits close to home. Jonathan Haidt argues that childhood moved from free play to phones in the early 2010s, and that teen anxiety and depression rose right alongside. He proposes four norms: no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and more independence and unsupervised play. The proposals are concrete, and they work best when parents act together rather than alone. To be fair, some researchers think he overstates how clearly phones cause the harm, and that debate is worth knowing about. Even if you hold the data loosely, the case for more real-world childhood is hard to argue with. Parents, teachers and coaches should read it.

— Matt Jordan