Jonathan Haidt

So we can plot how did that question fare? And what we find is on the question about uselessness, Only 9% on a five-point scale either strongly agree or agree. So most American high school students are like, no, I don't feel my life is useless. All of a sudden, 2013, it starts skyrocketing and it doubles within about five or seven years.

So we can plot how did that question fare? And what we find is on the question about uselessness, Only 9% on a five-point scale either strongly agree or agree. So most American high school students are like, no, I don't feel my life is useless. All of a sudden, 2013, it starts skyrocketing and it doubles within about five or seven years.

So we can plot how did that question fare? And what we find is on the question about uselessness, Only 9% on a five-point scale either strongly agree or agree. So most American high school students are like, no, I don't feel my life is useless. All of a sudden, 2013, it starts skyrocketing and it doubles within about five or seven years.

So about 20% of our high school seniors think that their life is useless. Data sets like this are full of slow rises and slow falls. You almost never find elbows. You almost never find a hockey stick. And this is what you see in chapter one of The Anxious Generation. Graph after graph, you find a hockey stick, especially for girls. I should make it clear.

So about 20% of our high school seniors think that their life is useless. Data sets like this are full of slow rises and slow falls. You almost never find elbows. You almost never find a hockey stick. And this is what you see in chapter one of The Anxious Generation. Graph after graph, you find a hockey stick, especially for girls. I should make it clear.

So about 20% of our high school seniors think that their life is useless. Data sets like this are full of slow rises and slow falls. You almost never find elbows. You almost never find a hockey stick. And this is what you see in chapter one of The Anxious Generation. Graph after graph, you find a hockey stick, especially for girls. I should make it clear.

For girls, it's like there's no sign of a problem. And in 2012, boom, more than a doubling, between 50 and 150%, depending on what you're studying. But it's never 10 or 20% increase. It's always 50 to 150% increase. Boys are doing much worse too, but that's a little more gradual. It's not exactly 2012. It begins maybe a little before 2010, but it accelerates in the 2010s.

For girls, it's like there's no sign of a problem. And in 2012, boom, more than a doubling, between 50 and 150%, depending on what you're studying. But it's never 10 or 20% increase. It's always 50 to 150% increase. Boys are doing much worse too, but that's a little more gradual. It's not exactly 2012. It begins maybe a little before 2010, but it accelerates in the 2010s.

For girls, it's like there's no sign of a problem. And in 2012, boom, more than a doubling, between 50 and 150%, depending on what you're studying. But it's never 10 or 20% increase. It's always 50 to 150% increase. Boys are doing much worse too, but that's a little more gradual. It's not exactly 2012. It begins maybe a little before 2010, but it accelerates in the 2010s.

So something went suddenly very wrong in the early 2010s. And that's what the anxious generation is about. It's not just the overprotection. It's also, I argue, the change in the technology.

So something went suddenly very wrong in the early 2010s. And that's what the anxious generation is about. It's not just the overprotection. It's also, I argue, the change in the technology.

So something went suddenly very wrong in the early 2010s. And that's what the anxious generation is about. It's not just the overprotection. It's also, I argue, the change in the technology.

Right. So this was.

Right. So this was.

Right. So this was.

a true moral panic that's an important word a moral panic they have certain properties it spreads through the media people read a report about something then they get afraid the definition of a moral panic includes that it's not real if there really was a sudden wave of kidnappings by men in white vans well then it would be rational to fear it the fbi stats on kidnapping are astonishing any idea how many kids get kidnapped by a stranger any year like ballpark what do you think it is in america in america by a stranger not a family member because those are high yeah

a true moral panic that's an important word a moral panic they have certain properties it spreads through the media people read a report about something then they get afraid the definition of a moral panic includes that it's not real if there really was a sudden wave of kidnappings by men in white vans well then it would be rational to fear it the fbi stats on kidnapping are astonishing any idea how many kids get kidnapped by a stranger any year like ballpark what do you think it is in america in america by a stranger not a family member because those are high yeah

a true moral panic that's an important word a moral panic they have certain properties it spreads through the media people read a report about something then they get afraid the definition of a moral panic includes that it's not real if there really was a sudden wave of kidnappings by men in white vans well then it would be rational to fear it the fbi stats on kidnapping are astonishing any idea how many kids get kidnapped by a stranger any year like ballpark what do you think it is in america in america by a stranger not a family member because those are high yeah

Two things. One is on the true kidnappings. It's in the ballpark of one or 200 cases a year. So the point is, it's very, very rare in the real world. Now, once we move to online, and this is what's so insane about what's happening. Parents are afraid to let their kids run around outside because they're afraid they'll get picked up by a sex predator. The sex predators are all on Instagram.

Two things. One is on the true kidnappings. It's in the ballpark of one or 200 cases a year. So the point is, it's very, very rare in the real world. Now, once we move to online, and this is what's so insane about what's happening. Parents are afraid to let their kids run around outside because they're afraid they'll get picked up by a sex predator. The sex predators are all on Instagram.