Podcast Notes Key Takeaways

• We have a mental health crisis on our hands
  • Mood disorders (anxiety and depression) started to rise steadily after 2011 (more so for girls than boys)
  • Self-harm is on the rise, specifically in girls
  • The suicide rate for boys in America is up 25%, while that of girls is up 70%
• Human beings learn best from experience – overprotective parenting doesn’t allow kids the unsupervised time needed to learn from their mistakes
  • “We’ve deprived kids of the childhood experience that they most need and we’ve replaced it with too much supervision and too many after school activities”
• The evidence is growing that social media use is leading to mental health problems
  • Specifically – it’s leading to VERY high rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide among young, teenage girls
• Jonathan recommends parents do the following:
  • Allow no more than 2 hours per day of screen time for children (not counting homework)
  • Don’t allow your child to have a social media account until high school
  • Encourage (and allow) your child to freely play outside unsupervised with other kids (especially by the age of 7-8)
• End the call-out culture – we NEED to give people the benefit of the doubt
  • “We’re all human, we all make mistakes. It’s very hard to move forward if there’s no forgiveness or tolerance.”
• Two important points:
  • We can’t always be sure we’re right
  • We need others to argue against us in order to strengthen our own thinking
• The best way to disagree with someone is by first stating a point you agree on (establishing common ground) then pivoting to the disagreement
• Because there’s so much emphasis on test scores, kids have little time to play
  • “We’re changing the nature of childhood and we’re too focused on skills that don’t matter as much. What we’re creating is a generation of people who do well on tests, but may not have a chance to develop the human skills that would be better for innovation and business.”

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org



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Jonathan Haidt is an author, social psychologist and one of the world’s leading experts in moral psychology. On the show we discuss helicopter parenting, the rise of the “call out culture,” and the dangers of social media.

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