Jonathan Haidt

It's not true. It's definitely not true. You want to give your kids a quality childhood. You want to be a quality parent. But that doesn't mean that you have to spend a lot of quality time with your kid. You need a warm, trusting, loving relationship. You need to provide structure and order and discipline.

It's not true. It's definitely not true. You want to give your kids a quality childhood. You want to be a quality parent. But that doesn't mean that you have to spend a lot of quality time with your kid. You need a warm, trusting, loving relationship. You need to provide structure and order and discipline.

But this is what changed in the 90s, and it's in part because we stopped trusting our neighbors. If you think of all the Robert Putnam stuff about bowling alone and the loss of social capital, we used to at least trust that if our kids were out playing without us, other adults would look out for them. If something really went wrong, they could knock on a door, like someone would help.

But this is what changed in the 90s, and it's in part because we stopped trusting our neighbors. If you think of all the Robert Putnam stuff about bowling alone and the loss of social capital, we used to at least trust that if our kids were out playing without us, other adults would look out for them. If something really went wrong, they could knock on a door, like someone would help.

But we begin losing that trust. And this is really bad for the kids because the kids don't grow as much if their attachment figure is there. And it's really bad for the adults, especially the women. The mothers pick up a lot of this, even though they're working outside the home. So yes, modern parenting is not good for the kids and certainly not good for the adults.

But we begin losing that trust. And this is really bad for the kids because the kids don't grow as much if their attachment figure is there. And it's really bad for the adults, especially the women. The mothers pick up a lot of this, even though they're working outside the home. So yes, modern parenting is not good for the kids and certainly not good for the adults.

So it's the conversion over to this smartphone-based, tablet-based childhood. That's when all the indicators of mental illness start rising around 2012, 2013. Yeah. Now, I focused on the 2010 to 2015 period, but I think your question points out something I hadn't really thought much about, which is cable TV.

So it's the conversion over to this smartphone-based, tablet-based childhood. That's when all the indicators of mental illness start rising around 2012, 2013. Yeah. Now, I focused on the 2010 to 2015 period, but I think your question points out something I hadn't really thought much about, which is cable TV.

I was born in 1963, so I grew up in the late 60s, early 70s on, you know, I Dream of Jeannie and, you know, Gilligan's Island. You know, I showed those shows to my kids and I said, this is so stupid. Like, they were really simple plots, but that's all we had. Whereas you had cable, which was more engaging. And console video games.

I was born in 1963, so I grew up in the late 60s, early 70s on, you know, I Dream of Jeannie and, you know, Gilligan's Island. You know, I showed those shows to my kids and I said, this is so stupid. Like, they were really simple plots, but that's all we had. Whereas you had cable, which was more engaging. And console video games.

Yeah, that's right. That's a good point. I've been more focused on the arrival of the internet, but Nintendo didn't require the internet, right? No. Right. Okay. You are not a gamer, John. No. Well, I was because when I was a kid, the game was Pong. This is 8-bit Mario, man. This is the early stuff. Okay, so the early stuff was great fun, but it was not multiplayer.

Yeah, that's right. That's a good point. I've been more focused on the arrival of the internet, but Nintendo didn't require the internet, right? No. Right. Okay. You are not a gamer, John. No. Well, I was because when I was a kid, the game was Pong. This is 8-bit Mario, man. This is the early stuff. Okay, so the early stuff was great fun, but it was not multiplayer.

Your friend had to sit next to you to play, right? Right. So I hope this will be a theme that I'm thinking a lot more about this. Don't just think about screen time. Think about what is it that makes it good or bad? Because I remember just as video games was coming in, And you'd hook it up to your TV. So like my friends and I would get together and say, what do you want to do? Play video games?

Your friend had to sit next to you to play, right? Right. So I hope this will be a theme that I'm thinking a lot more about this. Don't just think about screen time. Think about what is it that makes it good or bad? Because I remember just as video games was coming in, And you'd hook it up to your TV. So like my friends and I would get together and say, what do you want to do? Play video games?

Like, okay, we'll do that for a little bit. And then we'd go off and do something else. Nothing harmful about that. What happens in the 2000s, once you begin to get the multiplayer games, because this requires not just the internet, it requires high-speed internet. in order to have these amazing graphics shared in multiple screens at the same time without a lag.

Like, okay, we'll do that for a little bit. And then we'd go off and do something else. Nothing harmful about that. What happens in the 2000s, once you begin to get the multiplayer games, because this requires not just the internet, it requires high-speed internet. in order to have these amazing graphics shared in multiple screens at the same time without a lag.

So that's only, you know, like 2008, 2009, it begins to get popular. But then it's in this great rewiring period, 2010 to 2015, this is when everyone's trading in their flip phones for smartphones. This is when high-speed internet is increasing greatly. So by 2015, boys are all on these multiplayer games. My son played Fortnite.

So that's only, you know, like 2008, 2009, it begins to get popular. But then it's in this great rewiring period, 2010 to 2015, this is when everyone's trading in their flip phones for smartphones. This is when high-speed internet is increasing greatly. So by 2015, boys are all on these multiplayer games. My son played Fortnite.

I didn't let him on until he was 13, but they laughed their heads off. The boys at least had that synchronous laughter. They're not in the same room, so it's not as good, but they at least had that. Whereas the girls are each alone on their own Instagram account. They might laugh at something, but they're not having shared laughter.

I didn't let him on until he was 13, but they laughed their heads off. The boys at least had that synchronous laughter. They're not in the same room, so it's not as good, but they at least had that. Whereas the girls are each alone on their own Instagram account. They might laugh at something, but they're not having shared laughter.