The Anxious Generation Call to Collective Action
The Anxious Generation Call to Collective Action
During the 2024-2025 school year, we hosted a series of community book studies and conversations focused on The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
The book examines how the widespread use of smartphones and social media has disrupted childhood development and contributed to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns among today’s youth. Superintendent Isaac Seevers facilitated thoughtful discussions around these challenges, highlighting what the district is doing to support student well-being—and how families and the broader community can play a role. The book offers four key recommendations to help reverse these trends: delaying smartphone use until high school, postponing social media access until age 16, creating phonefree school environments, and encouraging more unstructured, unsupervised play.
These conversations are just the beginning. We invite you to join us in this important work by sharing your feedback.
BOOK STUDY GUIDE & RESOURCES
Click here to download a book study guide.
Click here to download another resource with book study questions organized by section.
Click here to see Supplements for Each Chapter
PODCAST: Parenting in the Digital Age
In two recent episodes of the district's podcast, called Onward Lebanon, Superintendent Isaac Seevers sat down Lebanon administrators and teachers to talk about parenting in the digital age:
- Conversation with Berry Intermediate Teachers T.J. Lindsay Collins, Berry Intermediate teachers, discussing how they navigate parenting in the digital age - click here to listen.
- Conversation with Administrators Alex Brunk and Tiffany Martin, who discuss their experiences as parents dealing with social media, cell phones, and technology in a constantly evolving digital era - click here to listen.
