The Anxious Generation": A Reality Check We Didn't See Coming
If you’ve ever wondered why teens today seem more anxious, less confident, and allergic to basic responsibility… Jonathan Haidt has some thoughts. His book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness basically lays out what I see in my office every week.
Here’s the gist: around 2010, childhood got hijacked. Smartphones and social media went from “new shiny gadgets” to “appendages permanently glued to every teen’s hand.” At the same time, free play, independence, and responsibility got shoved to the sidelines (Haidt, 2024).
So now we have a generation growing up with less real-world practice in, you know, life… but way more practice in curating a TikTok persona.
Shocking twist: it’s not going well.
What Haidt Says (And What I See Daily)
Haidt calls this the “Great Rewiring.” Basically, kids are overprotected in the real world (“Don’t climb that tree, you might get a splinter!”) but wildly underprotected online (where they’re scrolling through cyberbullying, fake filters, and who knows what else at 1 a.m.). The result? A whole lot of anxious, overstimulated teens who have no clue how to handle the real stuff when it hits (Haidt, 2024; Psychiatric Times, 2025).
And listen—I’ve lost count of how many teens have told me they’re “stressed out” but can’t load a dishwasher. They’re experts at managing streaks on Snapchat but melt down if they have to make their own doctor’s appointment (yes, this is a real thing we work on in session—calling people on the phone.) This isn’t because they’re lazy. It’s because no one is letting them practice life.
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Why It Matters
Here’s the hard truth: when kids aren’t given responsibility, they miss the building blocks of resilience. They don’t learn to fail, recover, or take pride in handling their own stuff. Fast forward a few years, and suddenly you’ve got a 20-something who can’t pay rent on time without three reminders. Haidt argues—and I agree—that this lack of practice is handicapping them as adults (Haidt, 2024; Everymum, 2025).
Haidt’s “Solutions”
FOUR big takeaways:
Delay smartphones until high school.
Delay social media until 16.
Make schools phone-free.
Bring back unsupervised play + real responsibility.
Yes, parents everywhere just gasped. No phones until high school?! But before you clutch your pearls, ask yourself: would you rather deal with a moody 13-year-old fighting over screen time, or a 23-year-old who still panics every time life doesn’t come with an app?
Final Thoughts
Do I agree with everything? Not 100%. But do I think he’s onto something huge? Absolutely. Teens are more anxious and less prepared for adulthood than ever, and pretending it’s “just a phase” isn’t cutting it.
This book is part research, part warning, and part pep talk for parents who want to raise confident, capable adults. Spoiler alert: that requires less screen babysitting and more real-world responsibility.
And honestly, Haidt just gave language to what I’ve been seeing for years: teens who can ace an Instagram caption but don’t know how to ask a teacher for help. That’s not their fault—it’s the system we’ve created.
So, if you’re a parent (or even just someone who’s curious why teens today are so anxious), grab this book. You might not love everything you read, but you’ll walk away thinking differently about screens, responsibility, and what kids really need to thrive.
🌿 Because let’s be honest: life happens outside of Wi-Fi.
References
Haidt, J. (2024). The anxious generation: How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. Penguin Press.
Psychiatric Times. (2025, March 7). The anxious generation: How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness [Review].
Everymum. (2025, August 4). The anxious generation totally changed my perspective on kids and screens — here’s why.
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