Forum from the Archives: Is It Time to Rethink Pediatric ADHD?

Paul Tough's 'The Inequality Machine' exposes how American universities perpetuate social stratification through systemic racism, wealth-biased admissions practices, and economic barriers. The book combines student narratives with research to reveal how elite institutions favor privileged applicants through legacy admissions, SAT advantages, and resource disparities, while also highlighting innovative programs working to create more equitable outcomes. Tough examines the psychological toll on marginalized students and proposes reforms to transform higher education into a true engine of social mobility.

In 'The Anxious Generation', Jonathan Haidt examines the sudden decline in the mental health of adolescents starting in the early 2010s. He attributes this decline to the shift from a 'play-based childhood' to a 'phone-based childhood', highlighting mechanisms such as sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, and perfectionism that interfere with children’s social and neurological development. Haidt proposes four simple rules to address this issue: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, phone-free schools, and more opportunities for independence, free play, and responsibility. The book offers a clear call to action for parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments to restore a more humane childhood and end the epidemic of mental illness among youth.