Do these 1 things today to curb your child’s anxiety

From 2021 to 2023, Americans under 30 will be less happy than Americans over 60, According to this year’s World Happiness Report.

Experts speculate that Gen Z’s suffering may be due to growing up during the Covid-19 pandemic, entering a polarized political climate, and inheriting a rapidly warming planet.

In his new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Reinvention of Childhood Is Contributing to the Epidemic of Mental Illness,” author Johnathan Haidt identifies another culprit: smartphones. Haidt is a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Children who were exposed to social media and iPhones in elementary and middle school reported higher levels of anxiety and depression, said Haidt principal investigator Zach Rausch, an associate research scientist at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“The biggest impact of social media occurs in adolescence, especially early adolescence,” he said. “The harm appears to be most pronounced in the 9 to 15 age group.”

To curb bullying, social comparison, and depression in teenagers, Haidt and Rausch offer four recommendations:

Children before high school don’t have smartphones, and in middle school they are only given flip phones.
You cannot use social media until you are 16 years old.
Get rid of phones in schools.
Give children more free play and independence, including more and better downtime.

Parents may have control over when their children are given a cell phone or allowed to go on Instagram, but some of the more structural changes, such as banning cell phones in schools and prioritizing recess, cannot be implemented quickly.

If you want to make a change today that will have a positive impact on your child’s health, start by talking to the parents of your child’s friends, Rausch says.

‘Teens and parents caught in social trap’

“Teenagers and parents fall into a social trap,” Rausch said. “For anyone who tries to wean themselves off electronic devices or social media, they end up at a pretty serious disadvantage. They increase the risk of isolation and rejection from their friends. And then no parent wants to be the only one who says, ‘Hey, you Your device cannot be used.

However, if your child’s best friend also has no or limited access to a smartphone, they may sometimes feel less inconvenienced by giving up their phone and be better able to focus on face-to-face connections.

“Find a group of five families where you can set these norms of no smartphones, no social media, and then work together to provide that face-to-face connection,” he said.

By starting to implement rules in your own community, you can show your children the benefits of not relying on their phones for all social interactions.

Want to make some extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course How to make passive income online Learn about common passive income streams, tips for getting started, and real-life success stories. CNBC Make It readers can use special discount code CNBC40 to get 40% off until August 15, 2024.