Jonathan Haidt Reflection on The Anxious Generation - How Childhood Was Rewired and How We Can Help Kids Build Calm, Confidence, and Resilience #947964

In the early 2010s, something changed. Rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, and emotional overwhelm began rising sharply among young people. Parents felt it at home. Teachers saw it in classrooms. Teens felt it in their own bodies—restless, exhausted, constantly on edge.
Drawing from research in psychology, neuroscience, sleep science, and adolescent development, this book examines how modern life quietly rewired the stress systems of children and teens. It explains how constant digital stimulation, social comparison, sleep loss, overprotection, reduced independence, and the disappearance of unstructured play have created a generation living in “stress without recovery.”
But this is not a book about blame.
It does not demonize technology.
It does not shame parents.
It does not label kids as fragile.
Instead, it offers a clear and compassionate framework: anxiety is often a stress-and-recovery imbalance. When the nervous system is constantly activated and rarely allowed to reset, distress becomes predictable.
Through twenty practical chapters, McNary shows:

• Why anxiety surged after 2010
• How “always on” digital life fragments attention and disrupts sleep
• Why girls and boys often show different stress patterns
• How avoidance and reassurance reinforce fear
• Why overprotection can unintentionally increase anxiety
• How the loss of independence, boredom, and real-world feedback weakened resilience
• What families can do—starting now—to rebuild confidence and emotional strength

Most importantly, the book provides realistic, step-by-step strategies for restoring balance at three levels:

• Body — calming the nervous system and protecting sleep
• Mind — retraining attention and reducing rumination
• Life — rebuilding independence, boundaries, connection, and meaning

Growing up rewired does not have to mean growing up broken.
This book is for parents, educators, counselors, and anyone who wants to understand why childhood feels harder today—and how to help young people build real resilience in a distracted, high-pressure world.
Calm can be rebuilt.
Confidence can be trained.
Childhood can be made more humane again.