There’s a book perched near the top of The New York Times bestseller list about what’s wrong with kids today. The Anxious Generation (2024), by psychologist Jonathan Haidt, argues that increasing time spent on smartphones and social media, at the expense of play, is rewiring the brains of children and adolescents and driving soaring rates of mental illness. It leapt to the top of the bestseller list when it was released a year ago and has sat there ever since.