yeah, jonathan haidt. >> he basically talks about phones in schools. he's on the front line.> i am wildly hopeful. and the reason is because change is happening faster than i ever could have predicted. if we do this, we solved the problem. we roll it back. so no smartphone before high school. so no social media before 16. just don't let them open an account. phone free schools. and far more independence, free play and responsibility in the real world. >> those are the four things. >> and all of those are happening. >> let's do those four things. >> let's do them. >> i can't wait to hear that conversation where you get your podcast every wednesday. the city hall insiders have a formula: grow the system, exploit the system. take mark farrell's record. after receiving the largest ethics fine in city history for breaking campaign laws. mark authorized a commission almost every year he was in office. he was even caught taking donations from people he would then appoint to commissions, including a felon convicted of bribery. san francisco's challenges demand urgency, not more of th

needs to get done because there is a huge toll on teen mental health, particularly on girls and jonathan haidttudied this in his book, the anxious generation. this is an area where there's once again, there's agreement. so let's act on that. >> but again, the parents are the problem. >> the it's the what it's the parents i mean, we're all sitting here like, isn't it obvious? just take away the phone. i mean, they take away your phone when you go to a concert, sometimes you put it in a pouch that's all they want to do. that's it. who's. who's objecting to this? >> it's the parents who are objecting to it because. why? because they need to be in touch with their little darlings at all times. well, this is where the payphone. i think that's part of the problem. but this is a collective action problem because bill it kids are not quite as easy to handle as you might might think and and when, when the talking about rats. yeah. i know nothing about this matter, but no. >> but you have kids. >> yes yeah. if every other kid has it it becomes it becomes much harder. and there are parents that that they

i mean, jonathan haidt, who's cite in the book as a sociologist he has a book coming out about mental health distress. his thesis is the smartphone in 2012 getting put in the hands of children is the key moment in the decline of kid's mental health. but do you do you have a timeline i know you think the smartphone is part of it but what you're describing i'm sure is shocking to a lot of people. my daughter's 28. the idea that as an eight year old should be asked these of questions is appalling to me. what how did this sweep across the country and enter schools and become this bad therapy become standard fare. i so i completely agree with know the idea that social media is very very bad for kids and absolutely was a major factor in the decline of adolescent mental health. there's no question in my mind that's true. and last book was about a particular contagion. the trans idea of a trans identity and gender dysphoria being spread through largely through social media. but things in a society aren't usually, you know, you know, vector and and and and single factor and i think this is ano

but i think this whole idea about mental health and children has been completely overblown and jonathan haidtealth. but the problem with that research is that it puts correlation and causation together. there are all sorts of reasons why children might be seeing increasing mental health issues, and certainly mobile phone usage. >> if we just were to blame smartphones for that, we wouldn't be looking at the deeper reasons. >> i mean, you think about what children are , confronted with at children are, confronted with at the moment. we have a political and a media elite who tell children that the past was a terrible, violent , racist place. terrible, violent, racist place. they've got no hope for the future. they won't get a job, they won't be able to get a house. and even if they can, we'll all die from climate change. children need grounding . change. children need grounding. they need context. and they need. if we just blame banning smartphones for this, we're not looking at the deeper reasons. >> it's no wonder children are anxious when we've got such a negative view of society, >> i would