*All registrants are required to select an item from the potluck list to bring*
Book Description:
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness is a 2024 bestseller by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. The book examines the rapid transition from what Haidt describes as a “play-based childhood” to a “phone-based childhood” beginning in the early 2010s. Haidt argues that this shift has fundamentally altered children’s social and neurological development and contributed to the dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and other mental health concerns among adolescents.
In The Anxious Generation, Haidt applies his understanding of psychological and social development to the effects of smartphones, social media, and other digital technologies on children and adolescents. He contends that the combination of increased access to smartphones and social media, reduced opportunities for independent play, and increasingly protective approaches to parenting has disrupted important aspects of healthy childhood development and placed young people at greater risk for mental health difficulties.
Rationale for suggesting this book:
The classic 1983 film Risky Business significantly altered the landscape of modern parenting by exposing the dark underbelly of the "perfect" suburban family, fundamentally changing how parents managed their teenagers.
Before the film's release, leaving a responsible, straight-A high school student home alone for a weekend or vacation was a common rite of passage. Risky Business shattered this parental complacency by demonstrating that even the most affluent, disciplined "good kids" could cause catastrophic damage when left unsupervised. The film catalyzed a cultural shift away from the hands-off "latchkey kid" era of the late 1970s and early 1980s, laying the psychological groundwork for the rise of intensive, highly supervised parenting in the decades that followed.
Haidt brings expertise in psychological and moral development to an increasingly important clinical issue: the ways in which parenting practices, and rapidly evolving technology may influence children’s emotional, social, and psychological development. Haidt is not a fan of post-latchkey highly supervised (sometimes called “helicopter”) parenting.
The book provides an opportunity for clinicians to examine the potential benefits and risks of digital technology in the lives of children and adolescents and to consider how technology may affect social connection, emotional regulation, identity development, and mental health. It also offers an opportunity to critically evaluate Haidt’s claims and consider how clinicians might help parents to thoughtfully address these issues with children, adolescents, and emerging adults.
Clinical Goals:
By reading The Anxious Generation and participating in the clinical discussion, participants will:
1. Describe at least two potential positive and two potential negative developmental effects of cellphone and other digital technologies on children and adolescents.
2. Analyze Haidt’s argument that the increasing use of smartphones and social media has contributed to rising rates of mental health difficulties among children and adolescents.
3. Critique Haidt’s recommendations to parents for reducing the potentially harmful effects of cellphone and other digital technology use and evaluate their implications for promoting healthy child and adolescent development and mental health.
4. Evaluate the potential benefits and risks of large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence technologies on the social, emotional, cognitive, and psychological development of children and adolescents, including their potential impact on relationships, critical thinking, parenting, and mental health.
Facilitator:
Scott A. Cohen, MSW, LCSW, holds a Master of Social Work degree from Temple University School of Social Work and has more than 40 years of experience in behavioral health. His career began with LGBTQ+ supportive counseling, suicide crisis intervention, and has included extensive work with individuals and families affected by substance use and co-occurring disorders. As an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Scott supervised medical residents in psychotherapy and taught Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Supportive Psychotherapy, while also providing integrated mental health services to critically ill patients and their families, including severely injured burn survivors. Trained in both psychodynamic psychotherapy and CBT, Scott employs a technically diverse, relationship-centered approach to clinical practice. His interest in child development has been shaped by work with abused children and their families, including his role as Psychosocial Program Director at a summer camp for children who have experienced burn injuries and as Clinical Manager of the Family Support Line Child Advocacy Center in Delaware County. Scott currently serves on the PSCSW Board and is a member of the Planning Committee for its Clinical Book Discussion Program.
This event is open to PSCSW members only. Participants who attend this program must be present for its entirety to earn 3 clinical credits.