The Anxious Generation: A True Concern or a False Alarm?

In the past few years, I have noticed that many of my friends, including myself, have frequently experienced some form of anxiety. Alarmingly, almost 40-50% of Gen Z have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and the prevalence is more than twice as compared to the millennials. Although both Gen Z and millennials face unique challenges that contribute to stress and anxiety, exposure to social media has been a unique problem for Gen Z as they are the first generation to have grown up with it. My family often debates the effects of social media on our academic focus and mental health. As two Gen Z members, my sister and I have argued about the benefits of social media in our lives as they keep us connected with our friends, provide avenues for self-expression, and provide easy access to resources. At the same time, my parents believe they cause distraction, harm our mental health, and prevent us from reaching our full potential. This is not just our household problem but affects many other families. When browsing Amazon bestselling books, my mom came across "The Anxious Generation" by Johnathan Haidt, a renowned social psychologist; she sent it to me as a recommendation, convinced that she was right about the dangers of social media. I decided not to judge a book by its title and the cover and give it a read. 

This book had some positive aspects; Haidt had thoroughly researched it, and the points made were interesting. Haidt included many visuals and examples that supported his arguments. The graphs and charts made it much easier to visualize the social behavior of teenagers in the 1990s compared to the GenZ. It was striking to see the difference; almost all of his data supported the argument that the mental health of teenagers is quickly deteriorating. The book was well structured, easy to follow, and kept me engaged. I could understand how Haidt developed his idea of "The Great Rewiring" and its effect on anxiety. One of his claims that I was fascinated by was his idea that social media was affecting our spirituality; Haidt asserts social media makes users and surrounding teenagers feel "down" instead of elevated from calm and positive experiences, having a long-term effect on spiritual practices like "shared sacredness; embodiment; stillness, silence, and focus; self-transcendence; being slow to anger, quick to forgive; and finding awe in nature." This enlightening chapter resonated with how I sometimes feel, something I could never describe. 

Though some of Haidt's points were creative, I often felt they needed to be more convincing and relevant to his argument. For instance, while the chapter on spirituality was engaging, it eventually veered into a discussion about religion without directly connecting back to anxiety or mental health. Not only this, but his data is highly subjective and could differ on a case-by-case basis. Some points made in this book were speculative; Haidt explicitly states that there is no data to back up his claims about the effect of social media on boys. He makes extreme and bold claims that are hard to resonate with my generation. For example, he discusses how the percentage of students meeting up with friends outside school daily has decreased since 1991. Although this decreased physical interaction could be due to easy access via cell phones, the increased workload, longer distances, and lack of neighborhood communities have also contributed to less face-to-face interaction for my friends and me. However, Haidt blames this solely on social media. This leaves his argument open-ended and less persuasive. It is true for many datasets he brings up throughout the book - though he has many points to back his claim up, they are all weak since he needs to elaborate on them appropriately. There were many other datasets Haidt could have looked into to get a broader perspective, such as travel, participation in sports and extracurricular activities, or other recreational activities such as sports attendance, movies, concerts, and Broadway shows.

Overall, while I do agree that the harm of social media is a real concern for our generation, focusing only on the negative aspects may generate false alarms and take away focus from other challenges such as gun violence, climate change, academic pressures, and job instability that could impact a teenager's mental health. While it is interesting to read about Haidt's perspective, I would not recommend this book to learn about all the valid reasons for increasing anxiety and the effect of social media on today's society, particularly among the so-called "anxious generation."