Community Read and Related Programs

Wright Memorial Public Library and Oakwood Schools will present a community-wide read of the New York Times bestseller, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. 

All community members are invited to read the book and/or participate in a series of conversations this October and November about the issues, and solutions, discussed in The Anxious Generation, with emphasis on how technology is impacting youth mental health.  Can't make our conversation? Hold your own with friends and family. Use these discussion guides for Parents, for Educators, and for Gen Z. 
A special Panel Discussion with local experts will also take place September 30.

Community Conversation Dates

• Thursday, October 24 - Why are Kids & Teens so Anxious and Depressed? This conversation will focus on what Haidt calls the “Surge of Suffering,” skyrocketing rates of mental health problems experienced by teens and kids and how that is connected to our culture of fearful parenting, safetyism in the real world, and the breakdown of adult solidarity.  
  REGISTER FOR THIS PROGRAM
   
• Wednesday, October 30 - The Great Rewiring: How Childhood Has Changed Haidt sites four “foundational harms” of wide-spread, constant cell phone use - social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. He shares data that shows girls are deeply harmed by social media, while boys are more affected by video games and pornography. This conversation will focus on how “The Great Rewiring” has changed the way kids & teens are growing up.
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• Thursday, November 14 - Collective Action for a Healthier Childhood What can parents, schools, governments, and tech companies do to protect kids and teens from addictive, easily accessed, destructive, and attention-stealing devices and content?
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All Community Conversations are 6:30 - 8:30 PM at  Wright Library (limited seating). 
Registration is now open.

This topic is important to Oakwood Schools Superintendent, Dr. Neil Gupta. "I am excited to partner with Wright Library to create an opportunity for the community to come together,” said Gupta, “to share perspectives based on a timely read of the impact on cell phones on our youth."

Wright Library Director Kristi Hale is enthusiastic to partner with Oakwood Schools. “This is one of the most urgent issues we face today, and there are solutions worth talking about,” said Hale. “This is the perfect forum for us to do that as a community.”

Panel Discussion

In addition to the community conversations, Wright Library and Oakwood Schools are also planning a special panel discussion with experts in child psychology, socialization, and technology. The panel discussion strives to help parents understand what many children are exposed to while on phones or gaming, how it affects them, and what steps parents can take to keep their children healthy and safe.

Panel Discussion - Kids & Tech: A Parent’s Guide 
Monday, September 30, 2024
7:00 - 8:00 PM
Wright Library (limited seating, registration not necessary)

“Conversation is powerful,” said Hale. “By using this book as a starting point and coming together in open, honest dialog, I’m hopeful that we will find new ways forward toward raising healthier, happier kids.”

About the Book

In The Anxious Generation, Haidt explores the recent collapse of youth mental health and presents a plan for a healthier, freer childhood. He discusses the decline of the “play-based childhood” and the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s — and how this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development. The book also explains why social media damages girls more than boys, and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Haidt describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Print, digital, and audio copies of Anxious Generation are available at Wright Library and all major booksellers.

About the Author

Jonathan Haidt is an American social psychologist and author. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at the New York University Stern School of Business. His main areas of study are the psychology of morality and moral emotions. He has authored and co-authored four books for general audiences: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (2006); The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012); The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018); and his latest book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024), which makes the case that the rise of smartphones and overprotective parenting have led to a "rewiring" of childhood and a rise in mental illness.