
Ep 38 Jonathan Haidt: on The Anxious Generation: Childhood in Social Media Age & Fragile College Students
From The John Stossel Interviews by Stossel TV
November 3, 2025 · 54 min
About this episode
Jonathan Haidt discusses the impact of social media on childhood and mental health.
"If your kids went through puberty on a smartphone with social media, they came out different than human beings before” says Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestseller “The Anxious Generation.”He argues that childhood is now phone-based instead of play-based, resulting in anxious and depressed kids. "They know that life would be better if they didn't spend five or six hours a day on social media. They know that, but they can't help it” says Haidt. But not all researcher agree. I challenge Haidt with the criticism. In our podcast, Haidt responds, and lays out his best advice to protect kids from smartphones.
People in this episode
Host: Stossel TV
Guest: Jonathan Haidt
Topics covered
- social media
- childhood development
- mental health
- anxiety
- college students
Keywords
- social media
- anxiety
- depression
- childhood
- smartphones
- college
- Haidt
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Anxious Generation
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