NPR: The consequences of a smartphone-centered childhood

Smartphones are addictive and contribute to low self-esteem and feelings of isolation among kids. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt about his book The Anxious Generation.

Transcript

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Smartphones are not only addictive, but they contribute to low self-esteem and feelings of isolation among kids. And with Big Tech companies barely policing any of their online products, young minds are susceptible to potentially damaging content. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says it's not too late to undo some of the damage if parents walk back what they allow their kids to access on their phones and delay when they give them smartphones. He lays out how in his new book, "The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness." He talked with our colleague Steve Inskeep about the consequences of smartphone-centered childhood and the value of face-to-face, old-school play.

JONATHAN HAIDT: My daughter really wanted a puppy. We have a puppy now, and she wants to play all the time. That's what puppies want to do. That's what young mammals want to do. Predator-prey games - I chase you, you chase me, hide and seek, tag, all those sorts of things. We develop social skills. We overcome our fears. But we've taken most of it away. We don't trust our kids to be outside. We began basically bringing them indoors. And we said, oh, you know what? You could be watching videos. You could be doing, you know, a math tutoring thing. And whatever problem screens have, the absence of play is a major, major obstacle to human development.

STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: I wonder if somebody would contend that online gaming is a proper substitute. It sounds like you don't think so.

HAIDT: Oh, I'm sure someone would contend it. Many people have contended it. You know, my son plays Fortnite, and I can see it's really fun. He's laughing his head off with his friends. But here's the thing. These platforms give boys what they want, but in a way that actually isn't as satisfying as if they were actually doing physical sports and, you know, having conflicts with a group of other boys that were real. So, yeah, sure. You know, it's fun, and they're interacting with other boys. But what happens to their mental state? They get really lonely. They start agreeing with statements on surveys - I often feel lonely.

And it's a similar story for the girls. Girls are lured on by the promise of talk to everybody, find out what everyone's doing, gossip about people. You can get instant updates on everyone. And so you'd think that this is like girls' heaven. But actually, this is girls' hell - everyone talking about everyone, able to shame or attack anyone anonymously, even on weekends. You can never escape. What happened when girls moved their social lives onto social media platforms was the same as for boys on video platforms. They get really anxious, lonely and depressed.

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