I am excited to talk with Andrea Francois and Fr. José Medina about Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation. Haidt's book was the faculty summer reading at Brookewood, and we like his thesis. We talk about the phone-free school day in terms of attention, embodiment, reflection, and reasonable physical risk. For us, going outside in what Haidt calls "Discovery Mode" has been part of the curriculum for years, and we've tightened up our phone policies this summer as the data has come in about the clear correspondence of social media use and the rise of anxiety and depression, especially among girls.
Quentin Walsh ended up producing this one after all, so we thank him for helping to balance us out, as it were.
Life of the Mind: Brookewood & Avalon Schools