Kings Norton Parish

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt (p.10) calls it ‘the Great Rewiring of Childhood’. A planet-wide experiment unlike anything tried before. An entire generation of children and young people has become ‘the test subjects for a radical new way of growing up, far from the real world interactions of small communities in which humans evolved’. To older generations, it has always seemed unnatural, but now the evidence is in: we know that it is damaging millions. What would a time traveller from, say, 1950, when Alf Rogers wrote this month’s article about Kings Norton at the turn of the century (p.32), make of the shuffling crowds roaming the streets, staring at a small, rectangular slab of glass and metal, oblivious to their surroundings? 97% of 12-year-olds now own a smartphone, a device which gives them unfettered access to wonder and to depravity in equal measure. No wonder levels of anxiety have surged by more than 130% since 2008. What have we done? And what can we do?

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In this month’s edition, we dip our toes into the rapidly growing debate about the dangers of a phone-based childhood and consider some antidotes, including teaching children to garden (p.30) and to become more ‘nature-literate’ (p.36). We learn about the Archbishop of York’s call to put prayer back at the heart of life (p.22). Arts correspondent M.G.M. invites us to contemplate the world through the eyes of one of the world’s greatest artists, as Rembrandt comes to town (p.16). A famous artist of another kind appears in Michael Kennedy’s travel tales on p.26. And Larry Wright brings us the fruits of his research into clergy retirement at a time when a fierce argument about ‘indefensible, ungodly and unchristian’ clergy pensions is in full swing in the Church of England (p.4).