Regulating smartphones? Jonathan Haidt vs. libertarians | The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
Channel: ReasonTV
Date: 17/04/2024

The author of "The Anxious Generation", Jonathan Haidt, argues that parents, schools, and society must keep kids off of social media, but libertarians tend to disagree.

0:00- The Anxious Generation
4:07- Mental health among Gen Z
6:11- What happened to the play-based childhood?
12:00- How Gen Z views authority
17:12- How many kids experience depression?
20:12- Having a smartphone during puberty
25:01- Some critiques of Haidt’s book
27:36- Child suicide has many factors
30:31- The impact of social media on girls
34:30- What counts as social media
36:58- Social media is a collective action trap
41:40- Children get more therapy than ever
45:35- How many kids actually die from TikTok challenges?
47:30- Policy proposals for how to get children off social media
56:15- What is age-gating?
1:00:55- Should parents be able to sue social media companies?
1:03:00- At what age should kids be allowed on social media?
1:08:45- Aaron Brown debates Jonathan Haidt about data collection
1:12:00- Audience Q&A

https://reason.com/podcast/2024/04/17/regulating-smartphones-jonathan-haidt-vs-libertarians/
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Today's guest is Jonathan Haidt, whose new book is The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. The New York University psychologist and Heterodox Academy cofounder argues that what he calls a play-based childhood has been replaced with a phone-based one over the past 50 years, leading to skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among younger Americans. He says parents, schools, and society must keep young kids away from smartphones and social media if we want them to thrive.

Haidt is coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018) and he's also cofounder of Let Grow, a nonprofit that lobbies for policies, laws, and pedagogy that will increase children's resiliency and independence. "The Fragile Generation," the 2017 Reason article he coauthored with Lenore Skenazy, is among the most-read stories on this website. Reason's Nick Gillespie asks Haidt about what is driving Gen Z and younger kids to distraction and whether it's possible–or wise–to childproof the internet. This interview was taped in front of a live audience in New York City as part of the Reason Speakeasy series. For more information on live events, go here.

Mentioned in this podcast: https://youtu.be/XoiZ1nqryfk

Illustration: Lex Villena