Kids These Days: The Data on Whether Screens Really Are Ruining Childhood

Paul Bloom weighs the evidence on whether today's youth are better or worse off than previous generations. He cites improvements in safety, tolerance, and parental time, but also rising anxiety and depression. The debate over social media's impact is unresolved: correlational studies show small or negligible effects, while experiments often find none. Bloom suggests screens may harm via collective action problems—kids are trapped by peers' usage—and notes that suicide rates have actually declined since 2017, complicating the crisis narrative.