Jonathan Haidt

Less so — adults have a fully developed frontal cortex, seat of executive skills

"If the devil wanted to destroy a generation, he could just give them all smartphones," writes TPN member @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social.

www.afterbabel.com/p/the-devils...

Part 1: The Harms (Australia v Social Media Mini-Series) In this 5-part Tech Mirror mini-series, Australia vs Social Media, we’re exploring Australia's world first online safety experiment. In this first episode, we’re going to go back to the beginning and ...

A great breakdown of the upcoming Australia social media age-gating law — many voices including mine: techpolicy.au/podcast/part...

Self-Conscious with Chrissy Teigen Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Illuminating conversation. Bold introspection. A safe space where the twists and turns of personal growth are embraced and shared openly, one conversation a...

Great speaking to @chrissyteigen.bsky.social on her Audible podcast — find us on Audible or wherever you get your pods #ChrissyxAudible adbl.co/SelfConsciousPod

Is N.J. about to ban cellphones in all classrooms? A powerful N.J. lawmaker just said yes. The plan could dramatically change how the state's 600 school districts handle student cellphone use.

Incredible news out of NJ, where @govmurphy.bsky.social said a bell-to-bell phone-free school policy is "among, if not the highest priority" he has! Thank you, Governor Murphy, @speakercoughlin.bsky.social and everyone working to give kids the gift of attention & synchronous, real-life connection!

Opinion | The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education

I and a growing number of professors ban all devices during class — even our grad students fall into distraction. How can K-12 students handle it?

@jeantwenge.bsky.social shows that they can't.

Get laptops and tablets out of classrooms now:

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...

Young People are Ditching Their Phones This Weekend Social media-addicted Gen-Zers are hosting an event this weekend to collectively dump the apps — and instead enjoy each other in person.

Time to Refuse — led and run by Gen Z'ers — organizes these wonderful events. You can host one near you! timetorefuse.org thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-citizen-...

Amazing Generation Educator GWP

EDUCATORS! PREORDER ALERT! Preorder THE AMAZING GENERATION written by @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social and Catherine Price and illustrated by Cynthia Yuan Cheng and submit your receipt to receive a FREE classroom pack. Find out more and preorder at the link below. ⁠

They’ve Come to Free ‘the iPad Babies’

Gen Z organizing more real-world, screen-free events! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/s...

The Gravitational Pull of Supervising Kids All the Time When so many people think hovering is what good parents do, how do you stop?

The decline in childhood independence in America has been gradual, until we are now in stark contrast to other developed nations. Yet for the sake of kids' mental health, we need to find ways to give kids more independence and free play, ideally outside.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

With Michael Wipfli, founder of the wonderful Australian campaign "36 Months," aiming to delay kids opening social media accounts for 3 years (36 months, from 13 to 16). And he succeeded — Australia is enforcing 16 as a minimum for social media accounts in December.

The fast-growth entrepreneurs helping kids break their screen addiction Companies like Yondr, Tin Can, and Gabb Wireless are leading a counterculture to soothe the ‘anxious generation’ and their nervous parents.

Dozens of companies are launching products to stop screen addiction www.fastcompany.com/91422599/wan...

The team from Screenagers Movies recently launched the #ScreenFreeSleep campaign to reverse the youth sleep crisis.

Devices at bedtime steal kids’ sleep. 51% of teens get less than 7 hours of sleep most nights, and 36% wake at least once during the night to check notifications.

screenfreesleep.org

'The Anxious Generation' author's No. 1 rule for kids' screentime at home: 'We have to roll that back if we want any hope for them to grow up healthy' When it comes to the amount of time kids spend on smartphones and tablets, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says it's necessary to find a balance.

If you were to have just 1 rule for your kids around phones: www.cnbc.com/2025/10/08/j...

#AI has the power to make content *much* more addictive. If we don’t get a handle on it now, Gen Alpha and Gen Beta are going to be completely lost in the most entertaining content ever created.

www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...

Not all screen time is bad for kids. Schedule a movie night! My thoughts via @axios.com www.axios.com/newsletters/...

Instagram is not safe for kids. If you think that sexualized content shouldn't be recommended to teenage users, I agree with you!

Video and research by the great org @heatinitiative.bsky.social

Australia’s Social Media Age Limit Policy Delays Account Creation, Not Access to Content The policy has been widely mischaracterized

By me and @iyerland.bsky.social: Australia's new age-limit law for social media does NOT ban content—it delays account creation. Kids & teachers can still use YouTube as much as they want, just w/o algorithms for the kids.

We explain on my Substack, After Babel:
www.afterbabel.com/p/australia-...

Pretty cool to get a shout out from one of my intellectual, sociological heroes @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social re: Our recent talk about @heterodoxacademy.bsky.social

YouTube video by TED Why You Should Spend Less Time with Your Kids | Lenore Skenazy | TED

Fabulous new TED talk from Lenore Skenazy. She shows that the cure for rising anxiety among kids and rising anxiety among parents is the same: Let kids develop competence through independence, and through (device-free) unsupervised play, as they used to. youtu.be/whaesnYloMQ?...

TIME TO REFUSE - Join the Mass Deletion Movement Join thousands of Gen Z refusing to be products. Mass deletion event October 10, 2025. Reclaim your life from social media and addictive technology.

From @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social on Threads. Let's join the kids & delete one.

📵🤸‍♀️🌳 “Time to Refuse” will kick off right here in NYC on World Mental Health Day, October 10th, 2025 at 6pm EST in Tompkins Square Park. Come delete one account of your choosing, at 7pm. Join the campaign: timetorefuse.com

Can College Students Stand to Ditch Their Phones for an Hour or So?

A wonderful feature in the NYT about the Reconnect movement, led by Gen Zer Seán Killingsoworth. (Come meet Seán at our event on Oct 10, see prev post!)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/w...

TIME TO REFUSE - Join the Mass Deletion Movement Join thousands of Gen Z refusing to be products. Mass deletion event October 10, 2025. Reclaim your life from social media and addictive technology.

Join us in NYC on October 10th:

📵🤸‍♀️🌳 “Time to Refuse” will kick off right here in NYC on World Mental Health Day, October 10th, 2025 at 6pm EST in Tompkins Square Park. Come delete one account of your choosing, at 7pm. Join the campaign: timetorefuse.com

Reverse the great rewiring of childhood with a great rewilding of childhood: Jeff Opperman Across all neighborhoods, relinquishing parental control remains a challenge, but can be accomplished most effectively through collective action — parents, neighborhoods, and schools working together ...

My new op-ed on how we need a "great rewilding" of childhood to counteract the "great rewiring of childhood" described in Anxious Generation @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social

Screen shot of print page in comments if can't access link www.cleveland.com/news/2025/09...

A funny take on adapting to #phonefreeschools, from the Frisch School in NJ

Chart from "The Anxious Generation." How do we reverse this? We get young people to stop spending 5-9 hours a day on social media and video games, and we get them back to real life.

Two Gen Z orgs—Appstinence and the Reconnect Movement—are leading a mass exodus from social media.

📵🤸‍♀️🌳 “Time to Refuse” starts in NYC on World Mental Health Day, October 10th, 2025 at 6pm EST in Tompkins Square Park. Come delete one account of your choosing, at 7pm. More at timetorefuse.com

What happens when we give kids a smartphone — we ask the impossible. A wonderful PSA by Smartphone-Free Childhood US.

Californians fought all year for two bills that will help keep kids safe online. @gavinnewsom.bsky.social, I hope you'll sign them to hold big tech accountable:

AB1064 protects kids from unsafe AI companions and

AB56 requires warning labels on addictive social media platforms.

Jonathan Haidt on Why Parents Should Delay Screen Use in Kids Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and author of “The Anxious Generation,” joins TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-host Ayesha Curry to discuss why delaying children’s use of screens is important...

On "Today with Jenna and Friends" about the benefits of #phonefreeschools www.today.com/video/jonath...