Lack of Research
In the introduction and conclusion, Haidt writes about the unknowns associated with rampant technology use. With the emergence of smartphones in the early 2010s, technological innovation has skyrocketed and transformed the way humans communicate, work, and live. In the introduction, Haidt poses a series of questions that point toward the uncertainties associated with new technology. To begin, he compares allowing kids unfettered access to technology such as smartphones to sending them off to inhabit Mars without proper research. He asks whether designers and creators took child safety into account, and promptly answers "no." Later, he asks if it is safe to soothe young children with a smartphone or tablet. The answer is "we don't know."
Some academics and researchers accuse Haidt himself of jumping to conclusions without proper evidence to prove his statements. For example, the scholar Candice Odgers writes in an article in Nature that several meta-analyses and systemic reviews show "no consistent or measurable associations between well-being and the roll-out of social media globally." What Haidt and his critics agree on is that further research is always needed, and that "considerable reforms to [social media] platforms are required" (Odgers).
Exploitation
Major tech platforms and companies have business models that seek to leverage psychological principles to increase user engagement, collect data, and drive advertising revenue. Haidt gives myriad examples in The Anxious Generation of "the way companies can hijack deep evolutionary drives" (Chapter 7). He writes that certain companies "strive to maximize 'engagement' by using psychological tricks to keep young people clicking" (Introduction). In Chapter 10, Haidt also quotes Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, who in a 2017 interview summarized techn companies' approach as, "how do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?” In this same interview, Parker explained how companies use "the social-validation feedback loop" to exploit "a vulnerability in human psychology." In this process, users post, like, and share content with the hopes of receiving likes, comments, and the associated dopamine release. This external feedback influences future behaviors and reinforces a cycle of seeking and receiving social approval.
Antifragility
Nassim Taleb is an essayist, mathematical statistician, former options trader, risk analyst, and aphorist who coined the term "antifragility." This refers to systems that become stronger, better, and more robust when exposed to stressors, uncertainty, shocks, and disorder. Haidt argues that children are by nature like this. He argues that children benefit from a secure base, risky play, and gradual independence to develop the necessary competence and confidence. According to Haidt, "a play-based childhood is more likely to do that than a phone-based childhood" (Chapter 3).
Government Intervention
Haidt argues in favor of government intervention to address the growing trends of adolescent mental health struggles. His approach is twofold: more regulation online and more freedom in real life. In 1998, the federal government enacted the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to regulate the collection of personal information from children under 13 on commercial websites by requiring parental consent. However, Haidt believes that COPPA should be updated, such as by raising the age of internet adulthood from 13 to 16. He also believes that new legislation should help facilitate age verification and encourage phone-free schools.
As far as the real-world context, Haidt proposes the decriminalization of granting children freedom. Vague neglect laws could be narrowed and specified to "give parents confidence that they can give their children some unsupervised time without risking arrest or state intervention in their family life" (Chapter 10). In addition, state and local governments could support more free play and recess in schools. According to Haidt, these political shifts would improve the well-being of children by protecting them online and granting them more in-person, embodied, and play-based childhoods.
The Importance of Play
Throughout The Anxious Generation, Haidt highlights the value of free play for children's development, particularly when it is outdoor, embodied, and synchronous. In the introduction, he also specifies that these social interactions and relationships ideally occur in one-on-one or small group settings of mixed ages in communities with a high bar for entry and exit. This increases children's capacity to experience rupture and repair in relationships.
Haidt marks the period between 2010 and 2015 as the end of the play-based childhood and the beginning of the phone-based childhood. Play in the virtual world takes place in a disembodied and asynchronous manner, possibly with a one-to-many ratio. Children need some degree of physical risk when they play because it teaches them to look after themselves and each other. Haidt argues for the lowest amount of adult supervision and intervention possible. This has an evolutionary basis: "human childhood evolved during a long period in which brain development 'expected' an enormous amount of free play" (Chapter 2). Research has shown that depriving children of play also impairs them socially, cognitively, and emotionally.
In the United States, there is a documented trend of decreasing playtime and recess for children. Unstructured play as a whole has been decreasing significantly, and in school settings is largely attributed to a focus on academic standards and standardized testing. According to Haidt, this will backfire because "play-deprived kids become anxious and unfocused" (Chapter 10).
The Built Environment
Haidt discusses the built environment in relation to children's play. If cities and towns are designed to only prioritize automobiles, then children cannot find them accessible (Chapter 10). Haidt urges measures such as good sidewalks, crosswalks, and lights to enhance safety. In addition, overlapping commercial, recreational, and residential establishments increase the amount of activity on the street. This benefits people of all generations. Children can access places like playgrounds and each other's houses on foot or by bicycle.
Playgrounds were invented in the late 19th century as a response to urbanization and street dangers. While the equipment and structures of early playgrounds were significantly more dangerous, Haidt states that many modern playgrounds are now overly safe. The result is that children do not develop the necessary physical and social competence. Some balanced alternatives include "adventure playgrounds, which are designed for imaginative play" (Chapter 11). One example is a junk playground "filled with miscellaneous things—building materials, ropes, and other 'loose parts,' often along with tools." Another category of adventure playground is a nature playground, which uses "natural materials, especially wood, stone, and water." This has been shown to active biophilia, or love of life.
Social Contagion
Haidt relies on Émile Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life as a foundational text in The Anxious Generation. Durkheim introduces the concept of collective effervescence, which refers to the intense energy, emotion, and sense of unity that people feel when they share group rituals, ceremonies, or collective experiences. This shared energy and emotional synchrony bind people together, which can be understood as a type of social and emotional contagion.
Throughout his book, Haidt explores the idea that emotions, behaviors, and even health outcomes can spread socially. This is not an inherently negative phenomenon. In Chapter 6, Haidt cites research conducted by sociologist Nicholas Christakis and political scientist James Fowler that found that happiness can also be contagious, though humans are primed to experience (and spread) negative emotions more strongly than positive ones. The advent of social media has also spread potentially harmful types of social contagion. One example occurred when a group of German psychiatrists "noted a sudden increase in young people showing up at clinics claiming to have Tourette’s syndrome" (Chapter 6). These cases turned out to be "a new type of mass sociogenic illness that in contrast to all previously reported episodes is spread solely via social media." What happened was that popular online influencers posted videos showcasing life with particular disorders, symptoms, and syndromes (in this case, Tourette's). Other young people unconsciously adapted these behaviors they observed in peers or admired figures. Scholars and researchers analyzed this as a mixture of emotional contagion, prestige bias, audience capture, and conformity bias.