“The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” by Jonathan Haidt, published just over a year ago, has become an international bestseller. The book focuses on the transformation of childhood and adolescence created by smartphones and social media. Haidt describes what he calls “the Great Rewiring” or the gradual loss of play-based childhood. Overwhelming data shows this took a severe shift between 2010 and 2015 during which the social lives of children and adolescents moved to smartphones. The data collected and shown by lead researcher Zach Rausch (from West Hartford, Connecticut) is very powerful in giving evidence to back what we already see: disengaged and overly anxious youth. The Anxious Generation is an excellent and interesting read for anyone working with students and young people today.

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