Childhood is changing faster than ever before, and anxiety is rising just as quickly. Anxious: From Playgrounds to Platforms and The Rise of Childhood Anxiety is a powerful, eye, opening guide that reveals why today’s children are struggling more than any generation before them, and what parents, educators, and communities can do to reclaim a healthier, freer childhood.
In this compelling and deeply accessible book, readers explore how the journey from sandpits to screens has reshaped the emotional world of young people. Once defined by outdoor play, imagination, friendships, and freedom, childhood has been replaced by constant digital stimulation, comparison, perfectionism, online pressure, disrupted sleep, and shrinking opportunities for real, world resilience. Through clear explanations and relatable examples, the book uncovers how these forces are creating a surge in childhood anxiety, loneliness, and stress.
Anxious guides readers through the hidden mechanics of the modern childhood environment: the rapid rise of smartphones, the viral spread of fears and social pressures, the impact of sleep loss, the erosion of attention, and the increasing dominance of platforms in shaping behaviour and identity. It reveals how the constant need for approval, the fear of missing out, the addictive designs of digital experiences, and the rise of performance culture are placing unprecedented strain on young minds.
But this book is not simply a diagnosis, it is a pathway forward. Readers will learn how to identify early warning signs of anxiety, rebuild healthy boundaries around technology, support emotional wellbeing, and restore the lost pillars of childhood: play, autonomy, connection, creativity, sleep, and real, world experiences. It also explores how schools, families, and communities can work together to address digital pressures, strengthen mental health, and create environments where children feel safe, confident, and grounded.
If you are a parent, teacher, caregiver, or anyone concerned about the wellbeing of the next generation, Anxious will give you the clarity and confidence to make meaningful changes. It sheds light on why children today feel overwhelmed, why anxiety is becoming more widespread, and what practical steps you can take to help young people feel more secure and capable in an always, on world.
This is more than a book about anxiety; it is a blueprint for hope. It offers a new lens for understanding the modern childhood crisis and inspires readers to take action, to reclaim childhood from platform, driven pressures and restore the balance every child needs to thrive. Thought, provoking, compassionate, and deeply relevant, Anxious is an essential guide for navigating the challenges of growing up in the digital age.
