I enjoyed Jonathan Haidt’s earlier books which tend to address a key issue currently facing society. His last book- The Coddling of the American Mind focused on the cancel culture and the removal of debate from American universities. The book before that, The Righteous Mind, was a fascinating look at the polarisation of politics. His new book focuses on the impact of smartphones on youth mental health. It pulls together a range of evidence suggesting a horrifying decline in mental health in the last 10/12 years and proposes reasons and solutions. At a time where the limiting of mobile phones in school is high on the agenda politically and in my own school it was a welcomed and detailed review of the issues.
It hinged on some key ideas that really chimed with me. Firstly, we have become over protective of young people in the real world but under protective in the online world. A recurring theme was the need to encourage play and risk taking in the real world and reduce access to social media and phones in the virtual world. I liked the focus on solving the problem on a number of levels – governmental, technology organisations, schools and parents. The focus on the collective action problem was useful- we need to work together on challenging norms. Overall, I felt it was a fascinating and compelling review of a huge issue facing society. I hope he turns his focus to the impact of AI next.
Read this if you… are involved in pastoral or school leadership and want a rigorous analysis of the challenges posed my smartphones.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Education 