We are writing to propose a community read across Cumberland County this summer: “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. A community read encourages everyone to read the same book simultaneously, sparking important conversations.

As parents and community members, we have seen and felt the detrimental effects of smartphones and social media on children’s mental and physical health, as well as their neurological and social development. Numerous studies support our observations, and highlight terrible trends: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, perfectionism and addiction. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide have dramatically increased — more than doubling by most measures across the English-speaking world since 2010. And as far too many families know, there seem to be new vectors for bullying by the day.

But it’s not just the phones or social media: it is what’s lost when we allow real-world experiences to slip away. We can create the conditions to reverse these trends. There is just one catch: We have to collectively commit.

So how do we do it? A great first step is reading and discussing “The Anxious Generation.” Haidt’s book offers practical strategies to reverse these trends. His four new norms are: no smartphones before high school; no social media until at least 16; phone-free schools; and more independence, responsibility, and more free play in the real world.

Several volunteer coalitions have formed, including Turn the Tide Coalition, to address these issues, and we invite everyone to get involved. Together, we can turn the tide.

Ellen Coughlin-Quinn, Scarborough
Chelsea DeLorme, Yarmouth
Matt Pines, Falmouth

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