Saving Gen Z from smartphones and social media with Jonathan Haidt

Margaret Hoover sits down with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt to discuss how social media and smartphones have rewired childhood and put the mental health of a generation of kids at risk.

Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation,” argues a surge in anxiety and depression among Gen Z is a consequence of constant smartphone use that has crowded out traditional forms of play since 2010, and he explains how mental illness has manifested differently in girls and boys. 

The NYU professor and father details his proposals for changing norms of parenting and eliminating smartphones in elementary and middle schools, and he addresses the role of Congress in creating this problem–and potentially helping to solve it.

Haidt tells Hoover about his “Free the Anxious Generation” movement, rebuts critics who say he overstates the evidence of a link between phone use and mental health, and explains why he considers TikTok “possibly the worst consumer product ever invented.”

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, Peter and Mary Kalikow, The Asness Family Foundation, The Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, Kathleen and Andrew McKenna through The McKenna Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, Pritzker Military Foundation on behalf of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Roger and Susan Hertog, Cheryl Cohen Effron and Blair Effron, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc. and Pfizer Inc.