Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️'s Reviews > The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness

4 Stars

Reviewing this book in a way that seems appropriate feels like a heavy lift that I'm just not capable of doing right now...and it's been a minute since I've read this, so I just want to get something down before this turns into an "RTC" in perpetuity review. So off we go...I apologize in advance for how crappy I'm sure this will be.

I was excited to read this because - to be blunt - I basically wanted to be able to speak intelligently about something I already believe: that social media is evil.

And before I get slammed for the hypocrisy of posting this here, hold your horses.

I am aware that goodreads is technically a social media site.
But it's not Tik Tok.
It's not Instagram.
It's not YouTube.

Can it be just as destructive as any of those if someone gets overly invested and attached? Sure.

But for the purposes of this review - and much like Haidt did in this book - when I reference social media, I am referring mainly to all the Tik Toks and Instagrams out there.

Cause they are the parasites that are truly contributing to the ever-increasing rotting of our society. And yes, I really believe that. Just like I believed giving everyone a participation trophy was a bad idea back in the early 2000s.

Do I think social media has its upsides? infinitesimally. And definitely not enough to offset the downsides. Cause our brains and minds were not meant to operate this way. It's just that simple.

I thought the way Haidt unpacked the critical milestones and transitions periods of childhood was very well said and well researched. And the way he compared pre-smart phone childhoods to post-smart phone childhoods was very interesting.

I very much enjoyed the earlier and middle portions of this book overall. As I stated above, everything was very well-stated and well-researched. I did think some parts were a bit redundant. And his solution plan...while admirable and logical...I just don't know how it would get it done, sadly.

Regardless, I think this is a must read, especially for parents.

Mental Illness, narcissism, and just an overall failure to launch has because an appropriate norm. And it's scary. Your friends and followers don't need to see every meal you ate on vacation or how many times you breathed in and out today. And they don't need a daily discourse about the status of your mental health. Stop navel-gazing. Seriously. It's ridiculous. We need to all get a grip and get the fuck off our phones.