The Piece Jonathan Haidt Missed.
Posted on October 14, 2025 by Lonna Gordon, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
Jonathan Haidt is the author of this year's it book "The Anxious Generation" so much is accurate about why Gen Z is anxious, but he missed 1 thing!
The “Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt makes a compelling case that at the center of the wave of anxiety that is plaguing Gen Z is their movement from an “in-person” childhood to a “virtual one” due to social media access without guardrails. As a physician who specializes in the physical, mental, and emotional health of teens and young adults I do not disagree with the core thesis that adolescents get too much social media dopamine at the expense of their mental health. I worry however that his book gives parents a playbook of cutting social media without addressing the core of why this problem exists.
WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY WITHOUT MARGIN!
Adults are overscheduled beginning their days with emails, virtual meetings taken in a car, full 8 – 10 hour days of scheduled work followed by more email or computer time when they could be focused on recharging and building their connections with family and themselves. This creates an environment where instead of adolescents getting dopamine hits from participating in sports, the arts, hanging out with friends they are instead on devices. Devices that keep them silent, away from their parents without the need to be shuttled to an activity or interrupting for permission to hang-out with friends. If we are to untether youth from social media then we must untether their parents from the space of being disconnected from their purpose, motivation, and emotional regulation. We must give them the tools to be clear-minded and certain in what drives them to thrive so they can have the impact on youth that they desire. Gen Z (and perhaps Gen Alpha too) are anxious because they are observing anxious parents disappear into a virtual world that seems to be producing little reward and are questioning if the same future awaits them. They need adults who are authentically connected to them.
If you are an adult who wants to positively IMPACT teens and young adults, I am a coach who can help you reconnect to your inner spark – that core motivation – that takes you from HIGH STRESS to HIGH IMPACT.
