Join OES families and school leaders in reading The Anxious Generation, by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.
Technology and its consequences have become a top parenting concern. Whether you are weighing when to allow your child on social media or setting screen time limits, we can all acknowledge technology has changed the nature of childhood and parenting. In his thought-provoking new book, Haidt describes how “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s and how it was wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He discusses consequences of this shift, from sleep deprivation and attention fragmentation, to social comparison and loneliness. Haidt shares ideas for how we can help nurture the potential in our kids and prepare them for the world.
This fall we will explore ideas, and share reflections and learnings from The Anxious Generation. The Lower School will offer meetings throughout the year focusing on themes from the book, while the Middle and Upper Schools will host a combined Parent Partnership meeting on Tuesday, October 8 from 8-9:30 a.m. in the Middle School library. Kindly RSVP here to let us know if you can join us. You do not need to have read the book to participate in this discussion.
More information can be found here: Hidden Brain podcast, an NPR article on the book, or this interview with Dr. Becky.