About this episode

Krishnan Guru-Murthy interviews Jonathan Haidt about the impact of social media on childhood and mental health.

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to the social psychologist whose work helped ignite a global rethink of childhood in the smartphone age. Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, argues that social media has fundamentally reshaped the lives of young people – driving rising rates of anxiety and depression, fragmenting attention spans and replacing real-world play with screen time. As Britain follows Australia in introducing restrictions on social media use for children, Haidt explains why he believes an entire generation has been caught up in a “great rewiring of childhood”, why girls and boys have been affected differently, and what parents can do to push back. They also discuss whether social media is fuelling political polarisation, why governments are finally taking action, and whether it's possible to reclaim our attention from the platforms competing for it. This conversation includes references to suicide, self harm, sexual activities and offensive language.

People in this episode

Host: Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Guest: Jonathan Haidt

Topics covered

• social media
• childhood
• anxiety
• depression
• political polarisation
• parenting

Keywords

• social media
• childhood
• anxiety
• depression
• screen time
• political polarisation
• parenting

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Anxious Generation

Places: Britain, Australia

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