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Are Smartphones Ruining Childhood? | Jonathan Haidt | TED

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, “The Anxious Generation,” is shaping cultural conversations and sparking fierce debates about the role of smartphones in society. In this timely conversation, he investigates how a smartphone-based childhood, amplified by overprotective parenting, is driving the mental health crisis among young people. He also explores the push for phone bans…

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Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, “The Anxious Generation,” is shaping cultural conversations and sparking fierce debates about the role of smartphones in society. In this timely conversation, he investigates how a smartphone-based childhood, amplified by overprotective parenting, is driving the mental health crisis among young people. He also explores the push for phone bans in schools and the concrete steps we can take to improve the mental health of young people around the world. (This conversation was hosted by Elise Hu, the host of TED Talks Daily. Visit ted.com/membership to support TED today and join more exclusive events like this one.) (Recorded at TED Membership on August 13, 2024)

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60 Comments

60 Comments

  1. @tjtampa214

    September 14, 2024 at 10:02 am

    This is nuts some of the stuff he is saying! To say it’s “good” for your kid to be out at 1:00 in the morning (for whatever reason and regardless if they are alone or with a group) is irresponsible on the part of the adult. So much more I could say on this misleading, un-insightful conversation but I will stop there.

  2. @tomspaghetti

    September 14, 2024 at 10:28 am

    Smartphones aren’t ruining our kids- Neoliberalism is. The mental health crisis we’re seeing is the result of multiple generations growing up feeling the pressure of shrinking upward mobility and widening inequality, even if we can’t fully articulate it. Our disillusionment manifests in how we use our phones—it’s a symptom of deeper social and economic failings, not the root cause.

    • @NateSnowOwlMedia

      September 14, 2024 at 4:57 pm

      Yes and Zi oni sm is the root

  3. @StarlynMunson

    September 14, 2024 at 10:31 am

    Collective effects via collective action

  4. @Langwidere903

    September 14, 2024 at 10:43 am

    I haven’t even watched the video yet, but as a gen-Zer born in 2001, I can say yes. That being said, my concern about schools taking away students phones is that when (not if) there is a school shooting, students won’t be able to text their parents that they love them for the last time. This is America…

  5. @TheBosama

    September 14, 2024 at 10:44 am

    YES

  6. @lynnoorman2144

    September 14, 2024 at 10:47 am

    I agree, parents need to club together. I dont think Covid and being isolated in pur homes helped either

  7. @AldrianCG

    September 14, 2024 at 11:04 am

    Parenthood is the only real factor in childhood being ruined o not.

  8. @onjofilms

    September 14, 2024 at 11:16 am

    Yes. Next!

  9. @Michael89312

    September 14, 2024 at 11:28 am

    Yes. It’s also ruining adult lives.

  10. @rotttmeiii

    September 14, 2024 at 11:34 am

    i’m so glad to have subscribed to this channel as a teen.

  11. @leahhoughtby9646

    September 14, 2024 at 11:37 am

    6:55 are we ignoring ebooks? And what about digital hobbies? Also, those of us who grew up ND, especially in rural areas, would have had a lot more peer interaction if we’d had the internet.

  12. @miky8788

    September 14, 2024 at 11:48 am

    YES

  13. @JJColb

    September 14, 2024 at 12:35 pm

    Must. Not. Read. Comments.

  14. @LiteraryStoner

    September 14, 2024 at 1:17 pm

    I was born in 1989. I am so glad i’m old enough I missed this problem. It’s terrifying and I feel so bad for gen z and gen alpha. The ending of the video is hopeful though! 🙂

  15. @The_Uncertainity_Principal

    September 14, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    The four what did he talk about?

  16. @Frenzii

    September 14, 2024 at 2:56 pm

    Yes they are

  17. @ParaditeRs

    September 14, 2024 at 3:57 pm

    He is missing all of the online games like World of Warcraft that came out in the early 2000’s that had much of the same effect as smart phones.

  18. @brionhannan1204

    September 14, 2024 at 4:17 pm

    Do you see a connection in the increase in school shootings and the use of social media/smart phones? With kids lacking social skills, as pointed out, they do not know how to fist fight or argue so they go for a gun. Thank you for this video!

  19. @thepragmaticfarmer6308

    September 14, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    Spoiler alert, yes. Net benefit of smartphones and social media on society is definitely in the red.

  20. @nancyroberts9776

    September 14, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    Yes.

  21. @user-de2hi8ey2f

    September 14, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    To have technology possibilities. It’s a gift! Learn to live with this!

  22. @Dioni-y9j

    September 14, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    To have technology possibilities. It’s a gift! Learn to live with this!

  23. @thejourney1369

    September 14, 2024 at 8:03 pm

    I can’t imagine the freedom your kids feel! I’m 67 and my mother knew where I was every minute of the day until I left for college.

    • @a-kindred-soul7937

      September 16, 2024 at 6:25 am

      That is amazing. I’m 65 and from about 7 years old I walked alone to school. My mom teached me how to do it safely and that was it. I liked those 15 minutes alone. From 8 years my school was a bit further and I stayed over for lunch, played with other children in the break. From 8h in the morning till 16h in the afternoon my mom had no contact with me. And after 16h I played around the house in the street or the backyards. No control. Wonderful! In the end this opened up the self-responsibility to go on bicycle trips (I grew up in Holland…) with a friend to spots and cities 25 km away at the age of 13 or 14, without parents, without a way to call home. It made us thinks and act independently. And coming home our parents liked to hear the stories of our adventures and we were thrilled to tell them. My parents loved me, but didn’t overly protect me like you see happening often now.

    • @thejourney1369

      September 16, 2024 at 7:52 pm

      @@a-kindred-soul7937 I grew up in the country. I had cousins and friends that lived anywhere from an eighth of a mile to a mile from me. I wasn’t allowed to walk to their houses because “somebody might get” me. I don’t know why she was so obsessed with that thought.

  24. @dominikusbagaskara7639

    September 14, 2024 at 8:21 pm

    It’s not the phone or technology. It’s the lazy/ignorance parenting that ruined childhood

  25. @triplejazzmusicisall1883

    September 14, 2024 at 9:06 pm

    yes!

  26. @vannamitravel

    September 14, 2024 at 10:50 pm

    Smartphone help student work with peer and teacher in real time.😀

  27. @Bryanhaproff

    September 14, 2024 at 11:59 pm

    Gen X SAYS : “BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

  28. @haigha-qb4kf

    September 15, 2024 at 1:03 am

    Top topic, but simply far too many words. Compressed into 15 minutes would be appropriate. I’d be happy to have AI summarise it for me.

  29. @fuoser

    September 15, 2024 at 1:58 am

    alphax ad in this video is hilarious.

  30. @user-uk1tq7sr2y

    September 15, 2024 at 2:05 am

    I’m 16 and I feel sooo sorry for me

  31. @ZamaMkwanazi-o5o

    September 15, 2024 at 2:05 am

    I’m 16 and I feel sooo sorry for me

  32. @Scott-qwer

    September 15, 2024 at 4:56 am

    How do most of you guys still make profit, even with the downturn of the economy and ever increasing life standards

    • @-vv3rv

      September 15, 2024 at 4:57 am

      As a beginner, it’s essential for you to have a mentor to keep you accountable. I suggest Miss Nancy William’s Laplace is extremely good on that. She is really good on what she does, Now I can pay so many bills because of her help.

    • @thehouseowner-q7u

      September 15, 2024 at 4:58 am

      This is correct, Nancy’s strategy has normalized winning trades for me also and it’s a huge milestone for me looking back to how it all started..

    • @OwenMaureen

      September 15, 2024 at 4:59 am

      The first step to successful investment is figuring your goals and risk tolerance either on your own or with the help of a financial professional but it’s very advisable you make use of professional

    • @Scott-qwer

      September 15, 2024 at 5:00 am

      Please educate me. I’ve come across this name before. Now I am interested. How can I reach her?

    • @-vv3rv

      September 15, 2024 at 5:01 am

      She’s mostly on Telegrams, using the user name.

  33. @bradb4740

    September 15, 2024 at 10:02 am

    They are ruining adulthood, look at all the people who can’t discern reality.

  34. @nhatphan03.5

    September 15, 2024 at 10:37 am

    so amazing sharing, i may buy free range kids soon

  35. @ME-KO.49

    September 15, 2024 at 3:44 pm

    Hi @Jonathan Haidt & @Elise Hugh, thank you for this honest talk about effects of technology (especially smart phones & gaming) on our kids. I believe we all should guide and help our kids to grow up in a healthier atmosphere.

  36. @gabrielbevan-rt5yl

    September 15, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    We now live in a world where there are so many more people trying to make money by trying to sell you something. When they try to sell you something they do so in different ways, they may give you messages/promises of things that you can get. They may portray images of how you should be (this may cause people to behave and think in a way which isn’t true to their real selves). People, including young people, then think to themselves i want this and i want that and when they don’t, or can’t get it they get disappointed etc, and if they haven’t been behaving true to themselves this can cause serious psychological/emotional issues later on. A lot of youngsters keep seeing, and hearing about, things that they want but can’t have, this leads to feelings of disappointment etc. It wasn’t like it so much when i was young so it was easier to deal with going without, there wasn’t so much that you were missing out on. Another problem with it, is that it is happening to youngsters at a time in their life when they are not emotionally mature enough to cope with it as well as if they would of when they are older. Youngsters are exposed to a lot of these things, if not all of them, on their smartphones etc, if the world wasn’t so money driven there wouldn’t be so many problems, this is what an ever increasing world of money brings.

  37. @npobmjtb

    September 15, 2024 at 4:29 pm

    Instead of judging and speaking about what they lose, we should insert in the schools the concept and help them make a difference between usefulness and waisting time, help them navigate the reality in which we live, add some legal constraints for useful content or avoid violence. I see many parents taking a drastic approach on their kids that just make them feel penalised, unfit and not understood that is ruining the kids anyway

  38. @Architecture-ke6yc

    September 15, 2024 at 5:03 pm

    2:52

  39. @ditto8854

    September 15, 2024 at 8:50 pm

    Not “ruining”; “ruined.” We’ve lost an entire generation (or two).

    • @ChessCom-wp1zv

      September 16, 2024 at 2:26 am

      You’re not aware 😅Gen-Z of Bangladesh lead to a revolution, just search it

  40. @darthgrif6543

    September 16, 2024 at 12:32 am

    Hey TED find someone to do an episode on the Nitroplasts discovered in april! it’s a new organelle that is found in a specific marine algea!

  41. @ChessCom-wp1zv

    September 16, 2024 at 2:23 am

    The greatest achievement of Gen-Z in 2024 can be found in Bangladesh 🇧🇩 🙌

  42. @MattLaubhan12

    September 16, 2024 at 3:12 am

    Kids want to be “cool” and fit in with their peers (as we all did at that age too). Whatever we do (as parents/guardians), we (as a collective community) might need to find a way for “alternate” technologies to seem equally “cool” to our kids. Start a new fad. To do so, you have to replace one technology with another. And, yes, this could take an act of congress.

    Recently, this issue has been mentioned as totally bipartisan. I agree. Come together America! 🙂

    2024 is the year to fix this!

  43. @Picci25021973

    September 16, 2024 at 9:16 am

    Yes.

  44. @yj5144

    September 16, 2024 at 11:27 am

    对于大部分人的难度是,怎么用手机替代成一个相对快乐的事情上来

  45. @autumnryn

    September 16, 2024 at 12:06 pm

    I’m a millennial born in 94. I grew up on computers, but there was no such thing as high-speed internet for a looonnggg time. It was dial-up, baby. No one wanted to wait an hour to watch a 5 minute video. My parents didn’t want to change until I was in high school when I needed it.. Kinda miss that. Stayed on the computer less… but it’s now it your fingertips 24/7… it isn’t right when you think about it. Mental health was definitely a problem in 2010.

  46. @venepskeuten9206

    September 16, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    Yes and no.

    The smartphone is an incredible tool of information and communication.

    However its also an incredible tool for easy access to entertainment. We as adults already struggle with it, for a child it will probably be much worse. Likely leading to a generation with significantly reduced social skills.

    In my opinion a smartphone should not be granted to a child until they are around the ages 13-16. My arguments are that for one young children need to socialize to develop and should not be distracted by shiny toys and 2. When you grow older having local friends becomes less accessible and so a tool of communication like a phone can be of great use to keep in touch. Especially in the american suburbs or other places where mobility is heavily limited.

  47. @closedchill5243

    September 17, 2024 at 11:01 am

    Game looks great. Thanks for advancing the 4X genre. Been waiting galf a defade for someone to take the next step.

  48. @2nywa2

    September 17, 2024 at 8:04 pm

    I teach nine-year-olds. I really wish I could share this interview with some of the parents. Nine-year-olds should not be seen glued to their phones. It is so sad.

  49. @mikelundrigan2285

    September 18, 2024 at 2:00 pm

    I was born in the 50’s and lived in a rural setting. When my brothers and I were younger than teens, we roamed the woods and the waterways for miles, going fishing etc. all summer. My parents had trust in us, they never knew exactly where we were and we were unsupervised. No adults were with us, we were by ourselves! We were gone from morning to dusk. Everything went well, nothing bad ever happened and my parents didn’t worry! This was a wonderful childhood that kids today almost never experience! We all grew up self confident and reliant on ourselves! Parents today would accuse my parents of neglecting us and being irresponsible! Nothing could be further from the truth!!

  50. @PaulsonKamin

    September 19, 2024 at 7:21 pm

    aimentalhealthadvisor AI fixes this (AI Mental Health Advisor). Smartphones impacting childhood negatively.

  51. @cristinasoares7936

    September 22, 2024 at 4:04 am

    Interviewer’s fry-voice is annoying.

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