I did not see that Mr. Haidt claimed anywhere that “social media has destroyed an entire generation.” Rather, he argues that social media is harming the mental health of teens. He makes some rather mild proposals, such as flip phones for kids and no phones in schools, among others.

Certainly, there are other reasons for declining mental health amongst our youth. Lockdowns were terrible, particularly among economically disadvantaged kids. Do we need a study to know that closing libraries, basketball courts, and after school programs would hurt kids? Nonetheless, the fact that there are many causes for the poor mental health of children does not make Mr. Haidt’s observations and recommendations any less valid, particularly when compared to chalking everything up to racism and disadvantage.

The television comparison doesn’t work very well, unless there were classrooms somewhere in which every desk and school bus had televisions running Gilligan’s Island on a loop. Of course, then as now, there were families with televisions in every room and others that restricted viewing. TV did not need to destroy a generation to show that the children of homes that restricted television gave their kids a leg up on their peers who spent life in front of their electronic babysitters.

I am all for more rigorous studies. In the meantime, parents and schools would do well to heed Mr. Haidt’s advice.