How Social Media Created a Mental Health Crisis, with Jonathan Haidt
Is social media rewiring childhood and fueling a mental health crisis? Neil deGrasse Tyson is joined by comic co-host Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly to explore the costs of growing up online and how to take back childhood with social psychologist and author of The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt.
Have we been overprotecting kids in the real world and underprotecting them online? What happens when children miss out on risky play that builds resilience and antifragility? Could over-cushioned playgrounds and cancelled sports have set the stage long before Instagram arrived?
We discuss the developing brain in adolescents and why it’s a critical period for socialization. How does myelination contribute to locking in behaviors during puberty? What happens if social skills fail to develop during critical windows? Can TikTok rewiring replace the conflict and growth of real-world interaction?
Are tech companies exploiting adolescent fears of missing out? Do algorithms push kids toward loneliness instead of connection? We compare which platforms cause the most harm: Instagram’s social comparison, TikTok’s “brainrot,” Snapchat’s dangers, or Discord’s hidden risks.
How will Gen Z, the first generation raised on the internet, raise their own children? Can communities, schools, and even state laws restore independence and protect kids without criminalizing parents? And how do we confront the next wave of technologies, AI “friends” embedded in toys, and chatbots designed to keep children hooked?
Learn about the four steps individuals and communities can take to help reclaim childhood socialization: no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and far more independence in the real world. Will families, educators, and governments rally to make this change or are we heading for “sociological apocalypse”?
Thanks to our Patrons Maz Dunic, gummibear359, Jack Bovee, Richard McCullough, Margaret, Daniel Zaibelt, Micheka K, Steph, Laura Kat Corey, Mark Benthien, Thompson Mhlanga, Robbie James, Micheal Fields, Nathanial Evans, John Malkin, Jonathan Madsen, Luis, Pete hall in Wi, Boonifa-Latifa-Shaweefa-Haweefa-Erikson-Vendez-Jackson-Hausenfef the First, Timmy Johansson, Shatesha, Jay, Lynne Henderson, Nimrod Nir, Candice Manion, Cody Rosenberg, Hai-Tue Han, Brandon DeYoung, Robert Guillot, james, Edward Madden, Jan Bart Verbist, Matthias, Orlando Calvo Arias, Raghav Kaushik, Elisa Castro, No Name, Samuel Griffith, Suresh Narayanan, Chris, Jacob, Duvall, Maarten van Nieuwstadt, Sockrateez, Cozine_stones, ERICA LOPEZ, Larry Maguire, jeffrey l. mueller, Hugo Dart, Alex Wayne, summer barker, Jonathan Thomas-Stagg, and Vanniar Hernandez Giniebra for supporting us this week.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Jonathan Haidt
04:52 – Quantifying Anxiety & The New Normal
10:45 – Overprotecting in the Real World
15:19 – What Anxiety Looks Like
17:38 – Big Tech’s Collective Action Problem
22:00 – Myelination & Sensitive Periods
27:59 – Are “Digital Natives” Wired for Today?
34:15 – Parents Who Never Had a Childhood
36:28 – Who is Responsible?
42:36 – The Four Norms
45:03 – Not All Screen Time is Built the Same
53:24 – Chatbots & AI-Integrated Toys
56:26 – Solving the Problem & The Inequality
01:01:24 – What is the Future Like?
01:05:25 – Closing
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31 Comments
Social clubs don't exist anymore for kids especially in small towns, no parks skating ring, bowling, arcades, WHAT are we supposed to do with them
so much talk about it, but does it matter? It’s interesting, but nobody’s having kids anyway
Liberals.
You are really going to work with this dude? are you involved?
like parents who cant set boundary's like setting up mac filter time filter that is your problem, im worried you went outa you way to record kids for this also
mental health isnt real they just wana use it as a means to keep kids sleeping you knw why, i assumed better of you dude, you done nothing for 20 years going over your papers now you can just talk good that is all you're nothing special dude
❤🙏
You’ll look back on your life and realize most of it was digital, you’ll have no memories and no skills. If you have social media check how much “screen time” of your life you’ve wasted. It’s sad and you know it 😂
discord can be used for small group phone calls it's the chat room function which I could see being harmful
China 1billion +people and 300k lawyers…US 340 million people and 1.3 million lawyers. Everything is a lawsuit here😂😂😂😂
Social media, As it is, Controlled by billionaires, is going to be unhealthy. Social media directed by the users was a healthier model. And I experienced a good portion of childhood without and with internet access, and I can say that the old internet, when they didn't know how it was going to make money, when it wasn't a giant data collection funnel, when it was users interacting with users directly, without some algorithm, it was better. But I did have anxiety. Before the internet. I saw school as a cinder block prison training drone workers to not think, not feel, just obey. I saw housing prices increase out of reach of me, and any one born after me. I saw wages stay stagnant almost my entire life while the cost of living went up. I started to feel like I was in a scam. I was told this is the land of opportunity, I was told if you work hard you succeed, but growing up I saw more and more evidence that that was a LIE. When the climate crisis came into view, that was just one more thing, a thing major governments look like they're doing NOTHING about. I feel Powerless to change the course of the world. How do you imagine children who never saw us repair the hole in the ozone layer feel? The world is going to burn and we're talking about anxiety caused by lack of hard play and internet? Maybe not being able to get a house, a job that pays enough to live, and knowing the world is going to become more unpredictable and dangerous because of Human Action, and human inaction to fix it. What do YOU feel when you think about the fact that the pattern of seasons you've known and grown used to, the heartbeat of the world, the patterns of nature are changing, and will no longer be predictable, comforting. what do YOU feel thinking about mass extinction, human created famine, societal collapse?
Hey all of you people in the comments, capitalism ruined your childhood.
While I agree, and I do agree from the experience of homeschooling for few years, the school system is against us now. My children got a couple of years without technology in the classroom but as soon as middle school started, around 2016 or so, the push to put screens in the hands of all kids in the classroom was underway. I had to buy my daughter a laptop and show her how to use all the sites and apps and how to make accounts. Many times the teacher had them use social media for examples, conversations, and communication. If you didn't know how to use this tech by 16 then you were and now are severely behind. Even in elementary schools now the children are put on tablets to do work, take tests, and interact in projects. Then they go home to do more work in front of a screen and they have to use social media to keep up with their peers at school. It is now mandatory. The final push happened during the pandemic. If a 16 yr old today had no use of screens, social media, or the internet in general they would be shunned, bullied, and completely behind due to dependency of tech in schools for lessons.
I hate to say it, but we lost.
Log out of all social medias for a week and see how you feel!
Thank me later..
Listened to this on Spotify! Amazing stuff…
Is that an " im sorry" for quantum trance theory?
25:06 Internet ruined me
Honestly, one thing you guys overlook is that maintaining friendships costs both time and money. Most young people are short on both. And in modern advertising, friends are just another way to sell things to consumers.
Instead of chasing that, build yourself a mixed family. People you actually trust. The quality of your relationship shouldn't depend on how much time you spend together or what you do. It should be about how you show up for each other when it actually counts.
The real problem is that modern social/gaming software is built to manipulate attention spans. It’s not just distracting people, it’s pushing society back into a state of wilful ignorance. The goal is simple: keep people afraid and reactive. Fearful, reactive people are easier to group, label, and sell things to.
The squishy ground at playgrounds is a life changer for parents with bad knees.
One of the best episode!!
44:35 No phones in school is crazy, with all the school shootings and parents can't reach their children.. plus a latch key kid needs their phones. My 13 year old walked by herself.. of course no phones in class. Make consequences for abusing their phone uncomfortable.. this teaches accountability but to ban phones in the building is the dumbest idea anyone could have.
I agree no smart phones or social media before age 16
I think that the worst of the problems started happening for children born after 2005-2010, because my childhood and my friends were still well within the era of "go outside and explore" or "be creative with the non-technological toys you have".
I will say, I didn't even have a cellphone of my own until I was in high school, and a smart phone until college, because I just didn't even want it or need it (I used the landline for much of my childhood). But, even with those children with ready access to cellphones in my grade and more access to social media and more expensive computers/televisions, they were still playing outside, etc. Yes, there were TVs and videogames (and yes, there was Instagram in middle school, though I had no idea what it was), but 90% of the classmates I knew were still basically as you would expect. Now, I did see a noticeable decline in children in the few grades under me, but I really feel that for some years after me, they were still within that transition.
You still had normally awkward/bookish/cautious kids like me, as well as normally outgoing and adventurous and sporty kids like some of my friends and others in my year. I can safely say I have anxiety because I would have rather played alone (occasionally with my siblings), read books all day without interacting with people, and focus on my studies instead of hang out with others. Now that I finally have made real friends (not just occasional play-date friends from primary school) in my adult life, I'm realizing the problems with that. But even the constantly in-pain person that I am forces through it because I feel the benefits of elation when interacting with others I enjoy spending time with (and whom often share my interests).
Best line- learn to take responsibility 😊
So, I thought I would give this a chance, but I'm six seconds in, and the conservative nonsense, the right-wing narrative has already started. I'll pass.
it's not social media, it's bullying. when I was a child we had no social media but I was bullied, result was I was suicidal. Social media is only an easier way to bully, nothing more.
I’ve deleted all my social media besides YouTube if that counts. I used social media for the past 13 years, I’m 24 and it made me a brain rotted adult. I rather live without it.
האם תוכל להוכיח שנצח אינו ////// הדמיון שלך, שמתפשט חצי דרך מאמצע כל מקום /// החוצה 3/4 🫄🏿 💦 75% פוטון פנטום הוכח, 50% אמיתי, אז פארגו (אין זמן ידוע, ספק אם אלוהים יוצר דמיון לנצח) האם אלוהים יכול ליצור את הדמיון שלך חצי דרך לנצח בהסכמה מתמדת מ /////// מצרים
ham tochel lehuchich shentzch inu ////// hadmion shlach, shemitpashet hatzi drach me'amtza kel mekum /// hachutza 3/4 🫄🏿 💦 75% poton pantom huhah, 50% amiti, az pargu (in zman yedua, spek am elohim yotzer dimyon lentzch) ham elohim yechul litzur et hadmion shlach hatzi
I didnt see social media untill my 20s, but I seemed to be drawn to it now, so the rewiring doesn't seem to be all that difficult
Yes, social media is a serious problem for all.
Major reform is required. It's simply not optional anymore.