Is this book for you?
The Anxious Generation
Read it if…
- You're deciding when to give your child a phone and want a clear line to hold.
- You teach and see attention and anxiety problems in the classroom every day.
- You've noticed your own teenager sleeping less and seeing friends less.
- You want the argument behind the phone-free school movement in one place.
- You're ready to talk to other parents about agreeing a shared approach.
Watch the summary
What the book is about
Between 2010 and 2015, rates of teen anxiety and depression rose sharply across the US, the UK and many other countries at once. Jonathan Haidt argues this wasn’t a coincidence. He calls it the Great Rewiring: in a few short years, a play-based childhood of friends, freedom and real-world risk was replaced by a phone-based childhood spent alone on screens.
His case is that we got the balance badly wrong. We overprotect children in the real world, where some risk helps them grow, and underprotect them online, where they meet harms no generation has faced before. The book sets out the evidence as he sees it, then offers a practical plan for parents, schools and governments to change course together.
What’s inside
The Great Rewiring How smartphones and social media reshaped childhood between 2010 and 2015, and why the timing matters.
Play-based vs phone-based childhood Why unsupervised play and small risks build confident, resilient children.
Four foundational harms Social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction by design.
Why girls suffer more How image-based apps and constant social comparison hit girls hardest.
What happens to boys A shift away from the real world towards gaming and online spaces.
Four foundational reforms No smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and far more independence and free play.
Collective action Why single families struggle alone, and how parents and schools acting together can change the norm.
Who wrote it
Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU Stern School of Business. He earned his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania and taught at the University of Virginia for sixteen years. He also wrote The Righteous Mind and co-wrote The Coddling of the American Mind, and he writes the After Babel Substack.
What readers are saying
What they love: parents find it practical, urgent and easy to act on. Many say it put words to worries they already had and gave them a plan to follow.
What they don’t: some academics say it overstates the evidence and risks a moral panic. Some Gen Z readers feel it talks about them rather than to them.
What well-known names said: Bill Gates reviewed it favourably, and Barack Obama named it one of his favourite books of the year. Psychologist Candice Odgers wrote one of the most prominent critiques, and Haidt has published detailed responses to his critics.
Quick facts
- Author
- Jonathan Haidt
- Publisher
- Penguin Press (US), Penguin (UK paperback)
- Length
- 400 pages
- Published
- 26 March 2024 (UK paperback 10 October 2024)
- Formats
- Hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook (read by Sean Pratt)
- Recognition
- Number one New York Times bestseller, Sunday Times bestseller, over two million copies sold, PEN Literary Awards finalist
- Reading time
- 9 to 10 hours
- Difficulty
- Accessible, with some charts and research summaries
Our verdict
If you're a parent or teacher worried about children and phones, this is the book everyone around you is talking about, and it gives you a clear plan to act on. Haidt explains how childhood changed and sets out four simple norms that families and schools can agree on together. The science is still debated, so read it as a strong, well-argued case rather than the final word. It's even better read alongside other parents at your school.
WillYouRead.com is independent and not affiliated with the author or publisher. This page is not medical or psychological advice. If you're worried about a child's mental health, speak to your GP.
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