Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Author Writes Book Critical of Iphones

Kids’ phone-based existence is ‘inhuman’ — and 10 times worse than any middle-school horrors: author
By Social Links forRikki Schlott
Published March 21, 2024, 6:00 a.m. ET
nypost.com


In his new book, Jonathan Haidt argues social media has damaged Generation Z.

“Suppose that when your first child turned ten, a visionary billionaire whom you’ve never met chose her to join the first permanent human settlement on Mars … Would you let her go?”

“Of course not,” writes Jonathan Haidt.

But the social psychologist argues in his upcoming book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” that parents have made a similar bargain with Big Tech — by sending children to a virtual planet for untold hours every day.

Haidt, a NYU Stern professor of ethical leadership, writes that the past decade has seen “the radical transformation of childhood into something inhuman: a ­phone-​based existence.”

In fact, as he points out, teen girls are spending an average 20 hours a week — effectively a part-time job — on social media.

It’s bred the most depressed and anxious generation in history, studies show.

Haidt, whose book is out March 26, argues that smartphones and social media have contributed to a “great rewiring” of childhood — causing sleep deprivation, social deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction and spiritual degradation.

The result, he says, is the most depressed and anxious generation in history. But boys and girls have been hit differently.

“Social media really does a number on girls,” Haidt told The Post. “It takes all the worst parts of middle school — social comparison, focusing on your looks, insecurity — and multiplies them by ten.”

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His meta-analysis of studies looking at social media’s impact on young people revealed a link between heavy social media usage and poor mental health outcomes among girls.

When it comes to boys, however, there’s less of a one-to-one link.

“For boys, the story is less clear. There’s no one smoking gun,” Haidt explained. “They’ve just experienced a progressive withdrawal from the real world, where boys have historically exerted effort.”

He points to porn and video games as major contributors: “The trend is really accelerating as the virtual world becomes so magnificently enticing and attractive.”

Haidt is the father of a 14-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son.

“We still have the same problem that all parents have, which is just trying to say stop spending so much time on your screens,” he said. “There is still a constant, a chronic tug of war over usage.”


The percentage of teens who agree with negative statements of self worth has exploded in the past decade.
Although he gave his son a phone in fourth grade and daughter one in sixth grade, because they walked to school in New York City, he wishes he’d given them flip phones rather than smartphones in retrospect.

But Haidt said both his children have benefited from a family rule of no social media until 16. He recommends other parents do the same — and hold off on smartphones until high school.

“We have to delay the phones but also give them engaging activities in the real world,” he said. “[Parents] have under-protected children online but we’ve also overprotected them in the real world. And we need to address both halves.

“Kids need to be anchored in the real world with real relationships, real responsibilities, real love. Virtual activities don’t substitute,” he added.

As a professor, Haidt said Gen Z has been receptive to his message — and eager for change.

“They see the problems of their phone-based childhoods. They see that it’s a huge waste of their time,” he told The Post. “But when I ask them why they don’t get off TikTok and Instagram, they say they can’t because everyone else is on them.”

He sees it as part of a larger collective action problem — one in which individuals want to make a change but fail to do so because the group isn’t — that’s leaving us paralyzed, and glued to our screens.

“We’re trapped in a collective action problem that we haven’t been able to solve, even though most people hate what’s going on.”

“The Anxious Generation” is teeming with solutions — and entire chapters on what families, schools, educators and big tech companies can do to bring childhood back to Earth.

International Jewry always plays both sides of every issue.

“We have to delay the phones but also give them engaging activities in the real world,” he said. “[Parents] have under-protected children online but we’ve also overprotected them in the real world. And we need to address both halves."

That's it.

My neighbor lady has two children- early 30's who each have two young teen children.
On holidays they have a family cook-out- all of them sit and stare at their phones the whole time they're there.
The grandkids sit around like zombies- they pay zero attention to their surroundings.
Neighbor lady and I talk about how different they are- she has to tell them to say hello to their Aunts/Uncles -everybody.

I worked with a guy- him & his wife text each other 20+ thousand times per month. He has no idea what's going on around him and doesn't get to know anybody.
One day I asked him what kind of topics he and his wife text each other about? He just gave me a blank look then looked at his phone. 100% ADDICTED

I have had young kids almost walk into me, cause they have their nose buried in a phone screen, and I have seen very young, 5 or 6 year olds doing it as well. Parents use the damn things to pacify kids while they’re shopping!🤬
We were in a restaurant and a father with his 15 year old son were across from us.
Neither ever looked at eachother let alone spoke to eachother!
I’m glad I was raised without them. I think many kids lack social skills such as conversation because of them. I bet there’s a special place in hell for the people who designed the things!
Reon

It isn't just 'kids'[depending on what one considers kids].

Go sit in a restaurant, waiting area of any sort and observe.

Couples sitting at a table never speaking a word to each other-both 100% involved with their phones.

Face-to-face verbal conversation is a thing of the past.

Our son received his first[flip]phone somewhere around 2003-4 at 13-14 years old. Within 2 days we had to deem the rule 'no phones at the table during meals'

It's only going to get worse.

Golly gee g9sh.

Who could have seen that coming?

10-12 years ago employers were saying entry level workers had no social skills- they can't/won't communicate with customers.

😂😂😂😂😂😂💩😂😂😂😂💩😂😂😂💩💩💩💩💩



Funny BS.


Not that it’s wrong overall. It’s right.



Except, a bunch of old high minded bastards are sitting on their nuts, devices in hand, to bitch about kids using devices.😂😂😂😂


It ain’t kids, sit in the restaurant and watch the 60 year olds.

The article mentioned teen girls spending 20 hours a week on social media. I think it’s closer to 20 hours a day.

Agree 100%, and it isn't just kids and young people that have been damaged by the cancer-it is society in general.

What Raeford said:


Yes. I was in a large hospital cafeteria a couple days back and saw that exact thing almost universally practiced. Pairs to 3 or 4 plop down to lunch, and there's zero conversation. Each and every one silently dove into their screens. Sad.

Several months back near the same thing at a restaurant. Four young ladies at a table but only three had phones. Three into their screens and the fourth ignored. I thought about it but did not wave her over for some conversation.

I was teaching a Hunter Ed class a couple weeks back and during every break the young teen ladies all went for their phones. Their objective was a selfie acquisition making some weird face about every 30 seconds.

Our son came of age in the early cell realm just as he finished high school and started college. It was a stretch for him to graduate high school. His college phone bills revealed he was online or connected with his then distant lady friend for about half of his waking hours. Time stamps showed he was not in class, and when grades came out, he had none because he was never there. I suspect he was gaming for the balance of his waking hours. Needless to say, we refused to fund another quarter. If he was to continue school he would pay his own way, and we would renew support if satisfactory grades came in. That never happened.

Same deal when we purchased a laptop precollege for him and went on a vacation just before school started. I would wake at 02:00 for a bathroom run and he'd be online gaming. After the college dropout deal it was a struggle to get him up and out, as he was simply not getting to bed until about 3 or 4 AM every night. Clearly addicted.

After a year at home doing Subway, he thankfully went east to move in with a cyber girlfriend. That was a blessing, as I was nearing the end of my rope. He did entry-level fast-food jobs into his early 30's but has finally broken out of that realm and is now an intern chef at a high-end eatery.

If we could have a do over, electronics might not enter the home until young son's exit.

I will admit to having a cell phone. It lives atop the mirowave, needs charging about once and month, and only three people have my number. There about 6 pics onboard (they're all Cookie's wildlife shots).

Abigail Shrier, in her book "Irreversible Damage" (about so-called rapid on-set gender dysphoria) points out that this new gender craze emerged about one year after the introduction of the Iphone. In other words, it is entirely a social media, social contagion driven phenomenon.

You're a very stupid man.

Wait until they get the implant version. It's coming.

I know a man who used to hunt elk, deer, etc. Then he quit hunting. I asked him why he quit as I knew he enjoyed hunting. He said, "i can't get cell coverage up in the mountains."

I said, "What the hell difference does it make? Long odds are you'll not have an emergency and even if you do, your hunting partner will give you a hand."

He said, "That's not it. My grand kids call me a lot and I like to talk with them."

I said, "Can't you talk to them when you're not out seeking the wily wapiti?"

He said, "Well, they ask me for money. I've got plenty so I give them what they ask for. I love my grand kids."

I asked, "How do you do that when you're out hunting?

He said, "I have an app in my phone that allows me to transfer money from my bank account to their bank accounts. If I can't get cell coverage, I can't help my grand kids."

I said, "Why don't you just take them hunting with you? Then you don't have to listen for a call."

He said, "They don't like to hunt or camp out." He laughed a bit embarrassed, "They like clean sheets and hot running water."

I said, "Oh. Well that sounds reasonable." I dropped the subject. As far as I know, he still does not go hunting.

I have an Iphone but never turn it on. I use it if I have an emergency in my car. Call AAA and they solve my "emergency." My land line phone takes care of my "communication" needs. If someone wants to talk with me, he/she has my land line number. Yep, I'm still in "dinosaur mode."

L.W.

Like the tiktok stuff going on now

I started driving the Big Rig in January 2011. I would make a run to Laredo, and go to the big TA Truck Stop there and buy lunch. There were big tables outside that sat 8 customers. I would sit there for an hour, and talk to 7 other truck drivers, about road conditions, about the unfair trooper at the scales on I-35 s. of San Antonio, about that big thunderstorm back on I-10 near Houston. We would talk about our work and our lives, it was great. You had to have a cell phone to drive a truck in that year, we all had flip phones. The Iphone was not on the scene yet.

I was at that same truck stop in 2018, seven years later. Sat at that same table at the TA, seven other drivers were there. But now, they all had Iphones. Nobody spoke a word, they all were texting on the Iphones. I still had my flip phone, I ate my meal in silence.

Just in that seven year span, the art of face to face speech, of looking someone in the face and talking with them, had been lost.

70,000 years ago Modern Humans in Europe were sitting around the fire, eating dinner and talking to each other. 70,000 years lost in one 7 year span.

Rest in Hell, Steve Jobs.

You're not wrong. Whenever I do a fill in run, the CB is quiet the whole 800 miles. Crazy. Nobody warning about accidents, or ice, or deer on the road, or just BS-ing.

On the positive side, the "truck stop counter expert" has also disappeared, that's nice.

But, let me push back a little. Remember when our parents (or some of the boomers here ) got TV, and all of a sudden, from 6 to 10 PM, everyone stared at a little blue tinted hazy box, and drank whatever poured out of it like Kool-Aid? The only discussion was about what to watch next and people quoted Cronkite like he was the arbiter of truth.

Three generations, we've learned to deal with the TV and most of us only watch a few things "on demand". I suspect that in three generations we'll have learned how to live with the little 7" "idiot box", same as we learnt to deal with the 26" "idiot box".