Australian Parliament resumes after Labor's landslide election victory
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the traditional owners of the national capital Canberra at a Welcome to Country ceremony in Parliament House. He noted that such ceremonies performed by Indigenous people to welcome visitors to their traditional land at the start of a new parliament had been introduced by a Labor government in 2007.
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'Anxious Generation' Author Jonathan Haidt Shares New Worries About Kids — and Why You Should Be Concerned (Exclusive)
His book has been a bestseller for more than a year and has prompted smartphone bans in schools across the country, but in a conversation with PEOPLE, Haidt says kids are still in danger When Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation debuted last year, it immediately became a bestseller — and a must-read for many parents navigating an era of pervasive smartphones and social media. Now, more than half of all states have passed laws banning or limiting phone use in schools — 17 states passed legislation just this year — and a new research poll finds that 74% of adults in the U.S. support classroom phone bans. Australia plans to restrict social media to those aged 16 and up starting in December, and several other European countries are also considering age restrictions. In a conversation with PEOPLE, Haidt, 61, a social psychologist and professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, says he's been encouraged by the rapid changes but warns that some changes are better than others. Haidt, who offers resources for parents at and on his Substack, weighs in on criticism of his book, the fears he has for kids, and the looming danger of Artificial Intelligence. PEOPLE: Are you surprised by the success of your book? HAIDT: I knew the book would be successful because whenever I mentioned I was writing it, parents said, "We need this tomorrow, can I see a draft?" But the the speed with which parents are organizing, the speed with which schools are going phone-free. I can't even keep track of it. PEOPLE: As you note, many schools and districts have opted to go phone-free, or ban phones in classrooms in the past year. What's working – and what isn't? HAIDT: The simplest fix, and it costs no money, is phone-free schools. That means when kids come in, they put their phone in a locked pouch, or a locker, and get it back at the end of the day. But many states and schools are doing something that's not very good: They banned phones only during instructional time. They do that because they're afraid of parents who say, 'I have to reach my student all the time.' But when class ends, kids lunge for their phones. And for the first 15 minutes of the next class, they're thinking about the drama going on. Phone bans during class time do nothing to help kids make friends. They do nothing to reduce the mental illness issue. It has to be bell-to-bell. I've never heard of a school that did it all day and regretted it or went back. PEOPLE: Critics of your book say you ignore the possible benefits of screen I recently found a horrifying statistic, which is that 40% of American 2-year-olds have their own iPad. A touchscreen device is not like television. Humans have always raised their children with stories. This is how culture is passed on. A TV screen is a reasonably good way of presenting stories. If your five-year-old watches a 90-minute movie on TV with an older sibling or with you, there's nothing wrong with that. The opposite is iPad time. The kid learns, "Might there be something more interesting if I swipe?" If this starts at age two, your kids lose the ability to pay attention to anything if it's boring for even a moment. By the time kids get to middle school, if they've been swiping and seeing micro stories that aren't really stories, a lot of damage has been done to their ability to pay attention. Us college professors all say the same thing: Kids can't read books anymore. Some of our students say they can't even watch a movie. It's too long. Our attention is being shattered. Let children's frontal cortex develop before you expose them to this. It's damaging an entire generation. And you should never give a child an iPhone as their first phone. You should work your way up. I stand by my rule, no smartphone before high school. PEOPLE: I'd like to talk age bans. Australia recently banned social media for those under Don't call it a ban. We don't say there's an age ban on driving. Just minimum age. There should be a minimum age. PEOPLE: But isn't there validity to the argument that if you keep kids away from social media completely, they're won't develop tools to learn to use it effectively? HAIDT: I hear this argument a lot, but I don't think it's valid psychologically. Our kids are going to be having sex and drinking alcohol, so it is valuable to have classes on that. We should be telling them about dangers. But have you ever heard anyone say, "We need to start them early because they need to know how to do this.' That's ridiculous. These devices, and especially these apps, were designed to hook your child. They were designed with full knowledge of brain development, dopamine circuits, motivation, insecurity. These are predatory programs that prey on children. PEOPLE: One of the biggest criticisms levied against your book is that it doesn't adequately acknowledge the way in which technology has allowed people, and particularly kids who might be isolated or marginalized, to connect and organize. HAIDT: That argument confuses the internet with social media. The internet solved that problem in the '90s. If you're a gay kid in rural Nebraska, life was really hard until the internet came along and suddenly you could get information everywhere. You could find organizations to help. I love the internet. Almost everybody loves the internet. Then in the 2000s, we get one application on the internet, which is a way of linking people together, giving them a newsfeed curated by an algorithm — and the algorithm is giving them whatever it can to keep them hooked. So who do you suppose is most harmed by this? Who do you suppose is most likely to be sextorted ? It's LGBTQ kids. Who do you think is most likely to say "This is harming my mental health?" It's LGBTQ kids. I often hear about the benefits [of social media]. I say, what benefits? Creativity? Have you worked with Gen Z? They can't pay attention. They're making little videos, but not much beyond that. Social media has very few benefits for children. For adults, yes, it's useful for business. I don't have anything to say to people over 18, but children have no need to connect with strangers. Children would be more connected if they put the phone down and got together with their friends. PEOPLE: Speaking of , we're in this moment where it was banned, the ban was rescinded and now we're waiting to hear about a . What are your thoughts about TikTok and what should happen? HAIDT: TikTok is the worst of them all. No one should be on TikTok. It damages your attention and exposes our children to garbage. We did a survey of Gen Z, these were in their late teens, early 20s, 50% of them said they wish TikTok had never been invented. They use it because they have to, but they see their life would be better if it didn't exist. I have very little hope Congress will do anything to protect children. So far, they have a perfect record of never protecting children ever on the Internet. But Australia and the UK are acting, and if their plans move ahead, and if the EU joins them and other countries, platforms are going to have to make it global because they don't want a different Instagram in each country. I'm hoping the rest of the world will fix this problem that America created. PEOPLE: What are your thoughts about how education cuts could affect kids and exacerbate what you're already seeing? HAIDT: Educational ability is declining since 2012, and cuts to funding are not going to help. But the biggest driver of the decline of education is the phones in the pockets and the Chromebooks on the desks. We spent billions of dollars putting a Chromebook or iPad on every desk. We thought this was an equity issue. But it turns out anyone with a computer on their desk can't focus. I teach college students, and MBA students at NYU. Three years ago, I had to go to a no-screens policy because even my graduate students cannot pay attention if they have a computer open. They're all multitasking. Adults can't pay attention, so how the hell do we expect 9-year-olds to pay attention when they have an iPad or a Chromebook on their desk? The best thing we can do for education is first, lock the phones away. Second, get devices off the desks. PEOPLE: At our school, kids have laptops with educational games. As a parent, there's a struggle between thinking more screen time isn't great, but games can be good for As soon as we introduce the technology, scores begin to drop. So we should start with the assumption that these things are not healthy, not helping unless they're proven to help. If you gamify math, the kid will be more engaged. So we think, this is good — but it's not. Suppose you gamify a third of your child's school day. What happens? Gamification is specifically targeted at giving kids a pulse of dopamine, which creates motivation to keep going. Okay, you think, that's good, they're motivated. But the brain adjusts, the dopamine circuits adjust and it now takes more dopamine to get up to normal. So the more you give them gamified educational technology, the harder it's going to be to have their attention to anything that's not on a screen. It's the same dilemma of parents who give their kid an iPad to shut them up. Yes, it will work in the short run, but now you always have to do it because they're not capable of sitting at a restaurant while you're eating. To be clear, there may be a role for some educational technology such as Khan Academy, but the one-to-one devices was the colossal mistake. You should try to avoid schools that will put an iPad or Chromebook on your child's desk. PEOPLE: That's most public schools!HAIDT: That's right. We have to change it. PEOPLE: How do you think AI will change the landscape for social media? HAIDT: In a sense, we've already had the first contact with AI, which was the algorithms. The algorithms made social media much more powerful. Early Facebook was not very addictive. It was just, you check out your friends' pages, they check out yours. But the algorithms, driven by AI, were super intelligent at hooking children with content, especially extreme content. We've already encountered AI and we lost. And our kids have been severely damaged by it. Our technology is becoming our master. This is all before the second wave of AI began with ChatGPT in late 2022, and what AI is already doing is showing that technology is going to become 100 times more powerful as our master. Those of us who feel like we're struggling with our phone addictions, it's going to get 10 times worse. Every app is going to get better and better at giving you what keeps you. Every app is going to get better and better at replacing real life. PEOPLE: What's your big fear with AI for kids? HAIDT: The most frightening thing to me is the AI companions. Our children already are socially deprived. They have poor social skills and they're lonely. This makes them even more likely as targets, as marketing targets for AI friends. But the more AI companions enter their lives, the less room and ability there will be for real friendships. PEOPLE: You talk about the value of giving kids independence. But for letting their kids walk to the store. How can parents foster independence in a world that's wary of it? HAIDT: The first thing is to look at the real world versus the virtual world. In the '90s we thought if our kids were on computers, they were safe, but if they went outside, they'd be abducted. It turns out both of those were not true. Crime rates have dropped tremendously since the '90s. Kidnapping is almost unheard of in the U.S. by strangers. The outside world is much safer than we realized. At the same time, if you let your kids on the Internet and social media, they're going to encounter pornography and strangers who want sex or money from them. We have to change our priorities. Our children have to learn to handle risk. They don't learn that online. Talking with a sex predator online doesn't toughen or benefit them. Going outside and getting lost and finding your way back is a powerful way to strengthen kids. We have to stop fearing the real world and be more afraid of the virtual world. You might be scared to send your eight-year-old six blocks to a grocery store, but what if he does it with his best friend? It's going to be a lot more fun. Everyone's going to be more secure. The more you do this with multiple families working together, the easier it is. Our goal isn't to snatch phones and iPads and screens. Our goal is to restore the fun, healthy, human childhood that most of us had. That's been taken from our kids. It is urgent that we restore it. Our kids are coming up broken. PEOPLE: The book emphasizes the importance of play, especially outdoor free play for kids mental health and development. What options do parents have if their kids are in public schools where the structure of the day, including play time, is limited? HAIDT: Two things that are easy and cost no money. Go to and download the kit for the Let Grow Experience. It gives kids more independence and fun and growth and it's free. So suppose your school has all the third graders do it. They go home, they decide something they can do by themselves. The best ones are where they go out of the house, to a neighbor's house to borrow a cup of sugar or go to a store. Imagine a town in which all third graders do that. Suddenly no one's afraid because, well, this is homework and the school told us to do it, and everyone else is doing it. Then what happens? Everyone sees eight year olds walking on the sidewalk. Nobody has seen that since 1997. The second program is called Play Club. Many parents are afraid to let their kids out, but they do trust the school playground. So a powerful thing to do is open the playground 30 minutes before class. You need an adult nearby, so that would be a small expense. But kids are desperate for free play and they get so little recess, so if you open the playground at 7:30, a lot of the kids are going to want to come and play soccer, play games, run around. It adds more free play to their day for very little money and it doesn't take away anything else from the school day. And it reduces truancy and lateness —since COVID, a lot of kids just aren't coming to school or they're coming late. PEOPLE: That's one of the things our school does, morning runs for the Wait, what do they do? They go on runs? PEOPLE: It's a track thing. On Monday mornings they can run around the track before Wait, they literally run around? That's it? That's what they do? That's an adult thing. We're so afraid to let go and let them play. They have to have free play. They're desperate for it. It's like if we raised our kids with no vitamin C whatsoever, and they all develop rickets, and then we say, "Well, we'll give you some lotion to put on the scars." No, just give them vitamin C. PEOPLE: Finally, one of your suggestions is connect with other parents with similar mindsets on phones/social media before your kids get to middle school. But you can't always choose who your kid hangs out with. Your phone-free kid may want to hang out with a kid who has a phone. What do you say to parents who feel like they're fighting a losing battle?HAIDT: Encourage your child to bring friends to the house, but there should be a rule that they put phones in a basket by the door. My children experience this. They go to a friend's house and the friend is on the phone all day long. What's the point? But your kid's not going to be damaged by occasionally seeing a smartphone or watching some TikTok videos. Half of American kids are online almost all the basically take themselves out of the game of life. When you give your child a phone, there's a 50% risk that your kid will be in that half. It's not so bad if he spends 10 minutes here and there on his friend's phone, that's not going to destroy his brain. But if he becomes one of the half that is addicted, it will probably cause permanent brain changes. The main thing is to shift from a mindset of threat to a mindset of discovery. Childhood should be about discovery, not fear. When kids are online, it becomes much more about fear. They're anxious. There's constant drama. But if we put them out in the world with other kids, they have fun. And we need to keep our eye on giving our kids fun. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
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Scott Moe arrives at premiers' summit warning some U.S. tariffs are Canada's 'reality'
Canada's premiers arrived in Ontario cottage country on Monday eager to discuss the country's ongoing trade crisis with the United States and settle into a plan for how they can work together with Indigenous leaders to strengthen the country's economy. On his way into the summit, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said it's becoming obvious Prime Minister Mark Carney's warning that it's unlikely Canada can strike an entirely tariff-free deal with the U.S. is simply "the reality of the situation." "Exceptions, carve outs, exclusions, exemptions — whatever you might call them, that is the reality: that we won't get to zero on each and every topic," he said. "The goal is to get as close to zero, on as many items that we possibly can. I know that's the prime minister's goal as well." Quebec Premier François Legault said that while it may be too early to accept that dour news, any deal needs to provide enough certainty to encourage businesses to invest. "The ideal situation would be no tariffs. But if there are some, we need to have some assurance that we will keep this agreement for three, five years," he said. "We need to have an economy where companies know what's happening in six months, in 12 months from now." Ontario Premier Doug Ford is hosting the 13 premiers in Huntsville, Ont., about 220 kilometres north of Toronto, for a three-day summit focused on the tariffs and trade disruption that have come to define Canada's economic relationship with the U.S. They started the summit on Monday with Indigenous leaders. In the afternoon, they were expected to sign more memorandums of understanding intended to remove barriers to interprovincial trade. N.L. Premier John Hogan's arrival was delayed because of out-of-control wildfires threatening the town of Musgrave Harbour on Newfoundland's northeast coast. On Tuesday, Carney will provide the premiers an update on trade negotiations. The prime minister announced his attendance shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a 35 per cent tariff on Canadian goods that are not compliant with the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, known as CUSMA. Carney will be in Muskoka Monday evening, when he will join Ford and the other premiers for a dinner at the Ontario premier's cottage. Watch | Ford says Canada working for a fair deal: Ford was unwilling accept that tariffs were an inevitability before the premiers hear from Carney. "What I'm glad [about] is the country is united. We may differ on a few views here and there, but we walk out of here united as a county, as a strong, sovereign country." Ford said if tariffs do remain, Canada needs to start "onshoring everything" by doing things like halting the import of steel for construction and making aluminum cans in Canada instead of exporting raw materials to the U.S. and then importing the finished cans back to Canada. He said the best response is to "start buying Canadian-made everything. That will hurt them more than anything." Moe agreed, saying finding new markets and breaking down provincial trade barriers is a better way to respond than using counter-tariffs, which he said are hurting his province. First Nations and C-5 Canada's premiers will also discuss how to build major projects following the passage of the federal government's Bill C-5, which will allow approvals for projects of national importance to be fast-tracked. Part of that discussion took place Monday when the premiers sat down with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. The law allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for projects such as mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws and streamlining the environmental assessment process. Since C-5 became law, some Indigenous groups have expressed concern projects will be pushed through without their consent. "First Nations are united in that we want prosperity, but not at the expense of our rights," Woodhouse Nepinak said Monday after her meeting with the premiers in Muskoka. Ford said there are many First Nations in his province that support major projects and he will work with willing groups to get them built. "As far as I'm concerned nothing moves forward … without the green light from the First Nations communities," he said Monday. Earlier in the day, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the historical problem with major projects in Canada is that it can take 10 years or more to get them approved. "I'm supportive of an abridged time frame but I think we have to figure out how that is going to work to make sure that Indigenous communities feel respected," she said. Woodhouse Nepinak said the attitude among Indigenous groups toward C-5 is split. She argues the law was pushed through Parliament without Indigenous consultation. "I think that we're all united against Trump's illegal tariffs. That's one thing that's very clear around that table," she said. "We stand with the premiers of this country in trying to find that path forward, as well as with the federal government," she said. "But they have to make sure that there is space for First Nations people at these tables. We cannot be left as an afterthought anymore." Watch | Premiers meet with Indigenous leaders concerned about Bill C-5: B.C. Premier David Eby said Woodhouse Nepinak asked the premiers in Huntsville to hold a future first ministers' meeting with Canada's Indigenous leadership and the prime minister in attendance. "I'm glad that the premiers agreed," she said after the meeting. "It's time now in 2025 that First Nations are at the table and that we have a bigger seat in this country. And one of those paths of course is through a first ministers' meeting." Ford said Carney will be asked if he is willing to attend. Breaking down barriers Since the trade war with the U.S. began, the provinces have begun signing memorandums signalling their intentions to amend their rules and regulations as part of the largest push in modern history to liberalize interprovincial trade. One study estimates that internal trade hurdles cost the Canadian economy about $200 billion annually, and all provinces have expressed a willingness to work on this issue as a means of countering Trump's tariffs. Moe described those efforts so far as "positive" and that he was hoping to see discussions around moving forward with "a more expansive agreement" on internal trade. The premiers are also expected to discuss Arctic security, wildfires and emergency management, labour mobility, immigration, health and public safety.
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Carney to brief premiers on U.S. trade talks at Muskoka summit
Prime Minister Mark Carney will sit down with Canada's premiers in Huntsville, Ont., Tuesday to deliver a detailed briefing about his government's ongoing trade negotiations with the Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump and Carney agreed in June at the G7 summit to try and reach a trade deal by July 21, but Trump recently moved that deadline to Aug. 1. Carney's briefing on how those negotiations are going lands in the middle of the three-day first ministers' meeting where the premiers are discussing their own response to the trade war. Carney said he was coming to the meeting shortly after Trump announced his intention to impose 35 per cent tariffs on non-CUSMA compliant goods, referring to Canada's trilateral trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who is hosting the meeting, arrived Monday just before lunch to chair the first day of talks with Indigenous leaders, including Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. Carney arrived in Muskoka on Monday evening to have dinner with the premiers at Ford's cottage, after spending the day hosting a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators to discuss trade. As well as trade, Carney and the premiers will discuss Arctic security, wildfires and emergency management, labour mobility, immigration, health and public safety. Before those discussions kick off Tuesday, Ford, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will begin the day by signing a memorandum of understanding to build new energy and trade infrastructure. When he arrived at the summit, Moe said it's becoming obvious Carney's warning that it's unlikely Canada can strike an entirely tariff-free deal is "the reality of the situation." "Exceptions, carve outs, exclusions, exemptions — whatever you might call them, that is the reality: that we won't get to zero on each and every topic," he said. "The goal is to get as close to zero, on as many items that we possibly can. I know that's the prime minister's goal as well."
