Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)'s Reviews > The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness

If you are a parent I think this is well worth reading. While I think there are a few blindspots and I don't fully agree with everything, I think the general message is an important one. Modern parents tend to be too overprotective in the real world while not doing nearly enough to protect their kids in the virtual one. The Anxious Generation draws on social science research and creates a compelling argument for delaying smart phones and social media, and having phone-free schools while also allowing our kids more free play time and age-appropriate independence. I found it helpful and thought-provoking.

That said, there are some real-world suggestions made here that would be far less safe for kids of color or visibly gender-queer kids than they probably are for the children of the author. There are good reasons why we don't do sleepovers, and I wouldn't do sleepaway camp until the teen years. But not every family and child is the same. I also don't love how heavily gendered everything in this book is because it makes some sweeping assumptions and doesn't really offer help for families with trans or gender-expansive kids.

I am coming away from this thinking of ways I can allow more independence for my kids, and feel good about the fact that I wasn't going to let them have smartphones or do social media any time soon anyway. I think he also taps into the fact that parents are often not having conversations about things like pornography and sexting early enough with their children. This stuff often starts happening in late elementary school and while it may be uncomfortable, by the time our kids are nearing their tween years we need to be having open discussions and educating them.