Throughout the 1950s, scientists demonstrated causal links between indiscriminate use of DDT (a pesticide) and negative environmental impacts. The chemical industry revved up its marketing engine, disputed this evidence, and persuaded regulators to do nothing.
And then, in 1962, Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring,” changing the national conversation and catalyzing the modern environmental movement. A few months before its publication, a New York Times headline described the brewing conflict as a “Noisy Summer.”
We’re due for another noisy summer. Here’s the deal.
– Social media has been eating away at our kids’ mental health.
– Children thrive when they have ample unstructured play time in the physical world.
– Devices stunt social and emotional development.
These are no longer controversial statements. Evidence has been mounting for years. Yet, nothing changes.
We hear a lot of sound and fury, but take almost no collective action. If anything, the algorithms get better, the world gets more addicted, and our kids’ eyeballs become even more prized.
Enough.
I can’t take another performative congressional hearing.
I can’t stomach our elected representatives wagging fingers and competing for like-garnering soundbites only to accept sizable campaign contributions from bottomless-pocketed industry lobbyists.
I’m done listening to tech executives pretend to care– pretend they’d welcome reform while deploying armies of said lobbyists to ensure nothing gets in the way of their profit-seeking machines.
Jonathan Haidt‘s “The Anxious Generation” can and should be the “Silent Spring” of the device-based childhood. Haidt lays out clear evidence for the harmful effects of moving from a play-based childhood to a device-based one. He also proposes straightforward reforms:
– Get devices out of our schools.
– Age gate social media.
– Design our world to encourage free, unstructured play.
It’s time to seize control of the national conversation on device-based childhoods. It’s time for our lawmakers to take action. If they won’t, it’s time for different lawmakers. It’s time to set our kids up for success.
It’s time for a noisy summer.
