What phone-based childhood has done to our children, and how parents and schools can partner to protect them

increase in depression among teenage girls since 2010

amount of time US teens consume media on screens a day

Gen Z is the first generation in history to go through puberty with portals in their pockets that are calling them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that is exciting, addictive, and unstable. How do we navigate this new technological landscape?

increase in anxiety in 18-25 year olds since 2010

of children who have their own tablet by age 8

"There is a window of higher impressionability running from about age fourteen to twenty-four, with its peak right around age eighteen."

– Jonathan Haidt

What we're doing about it

Join us for a lively and in-depth discussion on the ways technology is shaping childhood, with a focus on the impact of social media on teen mental health. Together, we will explore practical solutions that both parents and school leaders can implement, recognizing that homes and schools are formative, and that when aligned, they form a vital partnership.

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Haidt’s research examines the intuitive foundations of morality, and how morality varies across cultural and political divisions. Haidt is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis (2006) and of The New York Times bestsellers The Righteous Mind (2012) and The Coddling of the American Mind (2018, with Greg Lukianoff). He has given four TED talks. In 2019 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since 2018 he has been studying the contributions of social media to the decline of teen mental health and the rise of political dysfunction. He is currently writing two books: Kids In Space: Why teen mental health is collapsing, and Life After Babel: Adapting to a world we can no longer share.

Alexandra Kahane

Amy Tarlowe

Ariela Rosenberg

Daniella Greenbaum

Danielle Wilder

Denise Prober

Devorah Neiger

Hilary Linsky

Ilana Golant

Jesse Scherban

Joanna Lowenstein

Jodi Weinstein

Julie Blinbaum

Kim Rechtschaffen

Laura Levin

Michele Kamali

Miriam Krupka

Naomi Bernheim

Nava Greenfield

Davida Fried

Rachel Bedzow

Rachel Crane

Ray Siegel

Rebecca Zimilover

Shira Arcus

Tali Herenstein

Tamar Ackerman Tennenbaum

Yaira Binstock

Lee Lewittes

What is this event about?

We will discuss the ways technology is shaping childhood, with a focus on the impact of social media on teen mental health. Together, we will explore practical solutions that both parents and school leaders can implement, recognizing that homes and schools are formative, and that together they form a vital partnership.

Who is running this event?

Tikvah’s Jewish Parents Forum (JPF) is hosting this event in partnership with close to 40 Jewish day schools around the country. JPF was founded in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, when Jewish parents encountered a new set of moral challenges they needed to navigate – like this one. JPF is the address Jewish parents turn to for resources, connection, and wisdom from leading thinkers. Through monthly in person discussions, our JPF series explores key challenges in hopes of arming parents with clarity and confidence. We hope that, enlightened by our content and emboldened by our community, our JPF parents will strengthen their commitment to Jewish – and American – values in their own homes and defend them within their local institutions.

How can I attend the event?

For those local to New York City, you can attend in person (at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side). For those who cannot make it in person, you can register to attend via Zoom livestream.

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