Written By Jonathan Haidt

ARE WE FACING A NEW MILESTONE?

Review by Gunnel Minett

Human history is punctuated by some major milestones. When we first learnt to harness fire so that we could cook our food. When we developed language. When we developed agriculture. One thing these milestones have in common that they all have had a direct influence on the human brain. 

Perhaps future generations will mark the development of computers as another milestone. There are certainly some who regard the development of Artificial Intelligence as a major milestone. AI is even regarded by some as a potential threat to the human race, which may take over and replace humans.

This existential threat from AI is probably just speculation. However, there is another AI threat to which we are already being exposed: this can be called the Algorithmic Influence on social media. This is a threat to future generations in particular. As Jonathan Haidt points out in this important book, since the emergence of the smart phone around 15 years ago, there has been a noticeable change for the worse in the psychology of children growing up. Psychological problems have suddenly increased at an alarming rate,  particularly in the parts of the world where children are likely to have their own smartphones. This has lead specialists in human development to ask how the adolescent brain develops in a world with internet and social media. Is this vital process unaffected, or are we witnessing what Haidt calls “The Great Rewiring of Childhood.”

Although it’s taking place over, in evolutionary terms, a very short time, there’s clear evidence that something significant is happening to children who grow up in a world containing social media. Some of these changes are so striking that they clearly point to a connection between the two. Haidt points to things like:

  • The popularisation of smartphones and 24-hour internet access has led to 46% of teens to be online ‘almost constantly’
  • Anxiety diagnoses among 18–25-year-olds have increased by 92%
  • Nearly 40% of teenage girls in the UK who spend over 5 hours on social media per day are judge to be clinically depressed.

How can this be in a world where parents are so much more aware and concerned about their children’s development? Or, as Haidt argues, this maybe part of the problem: even if parents are much more concerned with child wellbeing they may, it seems, be getting some things completely wrong.

In many western societies it is against the law to allow young children to play outside on their own. Rather than promoting child welfare, this may, however, not be that helpful. It is obvious that the streets where children used to play in earlier generation are no longer safe. But there are other areas for children to play, but parents who supervise every move, may actually be interfering rather than helping.

Children need to play to learn. This is how they learn about adult life where not everything is ‘child-friendly’ or even ‘adult-friendly’. Interaction between children is not just about playing games. Face-to-face contact is also important. It teaches children to ‘read-the-room’, to pick up the nuances in human interaction which will help them to fit into social life over the rest of their lives. 

Haidt offers several examples and suggestions as to how children can play optimally. He points to the benefits of purpose-built play areas where children can play with less supervision but still be safe. He refers mainly to the situation in USA, where organised childcare is not as common as it is in Europe. It would have been interesting to also have had a comparison with countries where children go to organised childcare before and during their school years. In Britain for instance, where organised childcare still is seriously underdeveloped, some children have problems adjusting to group situations when they start school. Children who come from childcare groups do not seem to have the same problems.

Since the introduction of the internet and social media, the ‘play area’ for children growing up has changed dramatically. They no longer meet each other in real life. Instead they are spending much of their free time in the virtual world, where they no longer can rely on the play area to be child safe. 

But playtime for children is not just about having fun. It is practicing for the future. It is learning to fit in with groups, socialising, reading body language, understanding hierarchies etc. These are things, Haidt argues, are best, or even entirely, learned in real interaction in the real world. Online just does not offer the same experience.

Despite the increased safety awareness, even the most conscientious parents, with all the best intentions in the world, seem completely oblivious to the dangers their children face on social media. Online children are suddenly left to fend for themselves. As Haidt points out not only are they left on their own, they are allowed to gamble in casinos, visit hard porn clubs, and even see the most horrible violence that human beings are capable of.

This combination of over-protection in real life and total lack of protection online has a devastating effect on the growing child. Not only by traumatising them, but even worse, a longterm effect on the developing brain. Where this will end nobody knows. As Haidt points out, it is a social experiment that is taking place right in front of the eyes of caring parents, who themselves are increasingly being distracted and addicted by the internet world on their smartphones. 

To escape this downward spiral for children, Haidt suggests focusing on how to structure our lives in order to help children develop. He points to the traditions that bind cultures together, simple things like physical activities, outdoor adventures and play that helps children develop a good sense of self worth and moral values. He writes: “When people see morally beautiful actions, they feel as though they have been lifted up—elevated on a vertical dimension that can be labeled divinity. When people see morally repulsive actions, they feel as though they have been pulled downward, or degraded.”(p230)

Given the drastic change in children growing up, urgent attention is needed throughout our societies. A book like this should therefore be handed over to all parents on the birth of their first child. It will at least make all well-meaning parents aware of the real dangers in their children’s lives. 

Allen Lane, London, 2024, 374 pp, ISBN 978-0241647660