Hi all. Are any of you also feeling the stress and anxiety of smartphones and social media on our kids? The data on its effects are pretty scary. I recently read social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s new book The Anxious Generation where he lays...
Take Action
We all have a role to play in rolling back phone-based childhood and helping our children regain more independence in the real world. In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt lays out four reforms or new norms that would provide a foundation for a healthier kind of childhood in the digital age. It is often hard for one person, one family, or one school to swim against the tide of ever-increasing screen time, but if we act together, we can turn the tide.
Check out the below resources and actions you can take right now to get started.
Spread the WordActions for Parents
Parents can coordinate to establish four new norms that will roll back the phone-based childhood, improve family life, and protect their children’s mental health.
Parent Action Guide
A great beginner guide with key actions and resources for any parent to help greatly improve our kids’ mental health at no cost. (Notes and links from Jonathan Haidt)
Email Other Parents
Send this email to other parents so that you can work together to roll back the phone-based childhood and restore the play-based childhood.
Text Other Parents
I have been following all the data and research around kids and smartphones. The best recommendation seems to be no smartphones before high school, and no social media before age 16. What do you think? If we all set these age limits together, I think it’ll be easier on us and the kids.
Send this sample text to other parents so that you can work together to roll back the phone-based childhood and restore the play-based childhood.
Actions for Educators and Schools
Schools and education departments can take the lead in setting new norms that will roll back the phone-based childhood, restore more free play and independence, and improve mental health.
Educator Action Guide
A great beginner guide with key actions and resources for any educator to help greatly improve our kids’ mental health at no cost. (Notes and links from Jonathan Haidt)
Send a Memo to Parents
Dear Parents,
As you may have already read, adolescents nationwide are in a mental health crisis. Major depressive episodes among American teens have more than doubled since 2010....
Use our example to send a memo to parents from school leadership. You can also find examples other eduactors have shared with us. 
Actions for Gen Z
Steps that Gen Z can take to help roll back the phone-based childhood, restore more free play and independence, and improve mental health—including those who went through puberty with smartphones and social media.
Learn to Flourish
Follow Jon’s acclaimed NYU undergraduate course “Flourishing”, with its syllabus, to learn to understand the conditions that lead to flourishing and develop specific habits that will help you thrive at school, at work, and in your personal relationships.
Build your Antifragility
Consider the range of suggested resources for young people listed in The Anxious Generation—from apprenticeships and gap year programs to wilderness expedition trips.
Advocate for the Next Generation
Join the growing number of youth-led organizations pushing for digital media reform and more and better real-world experiences.
Actions for Legislators
State and federal governments can take the lead in supporting the four new norms that will roll back the phone-based childhood, restore more free play and independence, and improve mental health.
Keep Up with the Latest Legislation
Keep up with the ongoing legislative efforts to reform social media through our open-source collaborative review Google Doc and the Integrity Institute’s Policy tracker . For a preview on the role of government to help solve this collective action problem, read this post on our Substack.
Actions for Everyone
Spread the Word on Social Media
Want to help Free The Anxious Generation? Share more about the movement on social media with your network. Click to find shareable graphics and social media posts.
Donate
There are a few ways you can support our research and the Free The Anxious Generation Movement. Visit our Donate page to learn more.
Organizations
Let Grow
We are working with many aligned organizations to roll-back the phone based childhood and restore the play-based childhood. We have a special relationship with Let Grow, which is making it easy, normal and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident, and happy adults.
Aligned Organizations
Organizations working to end the phone-based childhood and restore the play-based childhood.
We want to hear from you!
If you want to share the impact the book has had on you—maybe you’re overprotecting a little less in the real world or have started protecting a little more online—please share your story.