Are Smartphones Costing Gen Z Crucial Life Experiences? (cnn.com) 158
CNN's chief medical correspondent spoke to psychology professor Jean Twenge from San Diego State University who in 2018 published a book which, even before lockdowns, warned that teenagers were missing crucial life experiences. Its title? "iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us."
From CNN's report: In her book, Twenge makes the case that Gen Z (or iGen, as she calls them) is growing up in a way that is fundamentally different from previous generations. She told me that some of the biggest behavioral changes ever recorded in human history coincided with the release of the smartphone.
Twelfth-graders now are more like eighth-graders from previous generations, waiting longer to take part in activities associated with independence and adulthood, according to Twenge. They are less likely to go out with friends, drive, go to prom or drink alcohol than Gen X 12th-graders were. They are more likely to lie on their beds and scroll through endless social media feeds. They may be physically safer, but the long-term effect on their mental and brain health is a big question mark.
Twenge told me that she "saw just a very, very sudden change, especially in mental health but also in optimism and expectations ... between millennials and iGen or Gen Z."
CNN's chief medical correspondent ultimately recommends parents talk to teenagers about how they're using social media. But the article also recommends: "don't catastrophize." In all likelihood, you'll find out your kids are on some type of screen or device more often than you would like, but — this is key — not everyone develops a problem. In other words, don't assume the worst about the impact that use of technology will have on your child's brain and development. Most people may not develop catastrophic problems, but it can be challenging to predict who is most vulnerable...
And lastly, in the words of author and science journalist Catherine Price, remember that life is what we pay attention to. Think about that for a moment; it is such a simple idea, but it is so true. I find it both deeply inspirational and empowering because it implies that we have it within our control to determine what our lives are like. The next time you go to pick up your phone, Price wants us to remember the three Ws: What for? Why now? What else?
Price also wrote a book — titled "How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life.". Here's how CNN ends their article: As Dr. Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, a clinical psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, pointed out, we possess something very valuable that Big Tech companies want: our time and attention. We need to be judicious about how we allocate these precious resources — not just because they are important to TikTok, Snap or Instagram but because they are priceless for us, too.
From CNN's report: In her book, Twenge makes the case that Gen Z (or iGen, as she calls them) is growing up in a way that is fundamentally different from previous generations. She told me that some of the biggest behavioral changes ever recorded in human history coincided with the release of the smartphone.
Twelfth-graders now are more like eighth-graders from previous generations, waiting longer to take part in activities associated with independence and adulthood, according to Twenge. They are less likely to go out with friends, drive, go to prom or drink alcohol than Gen X 12th-graders were. They are more likely to lie on their beds and scroll through endless social media feeds. They may be physically safer, but the long-term effect on their mental and brain health is a big question mark.
Twenge told me that she "saw just a very, very sudden change, especially in mental health but also in optimism and expectations ... between millennials and iGen or Gen Z."
CNN's chief medical correspondent ultimately recommends parents talk to teenagers about how they're using social media. But the article also recommends: "don't catastrophize." In all likelihood, you'll find out your kids are on some type of screen or device more often than you would like, but — this is key — not everyone develops a problem. In other words, don't assume the worst about the impact that use of technology will have on your child's brain and development. Most people may not develop catastrophic problems, but it can be challenging to predict who is most vulnerable...
And lastly, in the words of author and science journalist Catherine Price, remember that life is what we pay attention to. Think about that for a moment; it is such a simple idea, but it is so true. I find it both deeply inspirational and empowering because it implies that we have it within our control to determine what our lives are like. The next time you go to pick up your phone, Price wants us to remember the three Ws: What for? Why now? What else?
Price also wrote a book — titled "How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life.". Here's how CNN ends their article: As Dr. Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, a clinical psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, pointed out, we possess something very valuable that Big Tech companies want: our time and attention. We need to be judicious about how we allocate these precious resources — not just because they are important to TikTok, Snap or Instagram but because they are priceless for us, too.
cars not smartphones (Score:5, Interesting)
I would blame cars instead. The bulk of socialization my generation (X) had was done as children outside. There were few cars, and we not only walked to school (and sometimes kindergarten!) on foot, but also spent most of the time with friends (and enemies...). Today, even Europe is moving to the degenerate American system where you can't leave the house without a car.
Oh, and dare to walk from/to kindergarten or early school as a kid -- there'll be instant police arresting parents for "child endangerment". Because with all the cars it's no longer safe to walk...
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As a fellow GenX, I have to call BS. Most of our socialization was indoors, in school. Walking? Nearest high school was an hour by bus away, and by the time I was 15 I could drive a stick well enough to get around on the farm in a ute.
Let's both agree to let GenZ deal with GenZ problems while we can just sit and rotate while our parents fuck up any chance for anyone not born to money to buy a house.
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If school bus, you will be with your peers as well for that trip, and not just from your class.
Re:cars not smartphones (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: cars not smartphones (Score:2)
Re: cars not smartphones (Score:2)
Our parks and playfields are not grown over. They are covered with tents and used syringes. Thanks, lefties.
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Blue state. Almost legalized all drug use before every GOP run county threatened to write their own laws. We've been advertising "Come to Seattle for Cheap Heroin!" since the grunge rock days. Addicts come here by the busload.
I'd say it's the lefties.
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I've noticed the lack of kids on bikes in the modern world too. We used to go miles away from home and be out all afternoon, and no cellphones to call in in case of emergency.
It was assumed we could deal with the world.
Once we were 13 we were wandering through the woods with rifles and shotguns during hunting season too. No one worried about that either, and they had no reason to. The only childhood acquaintance who died drowned while swimming.
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Re:cars not smartphones (Score:4, Insightful)
Except one of the biggest changes is that kids are waiting to get their drivers license. As a fellow gen Xers, we certainly did ride bikes or skateboard or walk, but that was only until someone could drive, Once someone got their license, those things generally went away and we drove everywhere. While walking to school was more prevalent, it was not really common as I knew of just a couple people who walked to school, and that was because they lived less than a 5 minute walk from school. Yes, america suck with its "cars first" culture, but that doesn't seem to be the issue here.
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As a fellow gen Xers, we certainly did ride bikes or skateboard or walk, but that was only until someone could drive, Once someone got their license, those things generally went away and we drove everywhere.
Speak for yourself. I'm Gen X and came very close to selling my only car last year given how I used it so infrequently that every time I went to start it the battery was flat.
Actually you speak for all of America. A car is a life necessity there. But it's not a generational thing.
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Except one of the biggest changes is that kids are waiting to get their drivers license.
That was happening at the end of Gen-X as well. I blame the insurance companies' extortionate young-driver premiums. If our country gets serious about preventing age discrimination, a lot of things will change....
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Well, there's a reason for that...
Teens have a higher risk that adults older and more experienced than them.
It's all based on risk....that not age discrimination, it's just statistical facts.
If a teen has a clean driving record, no tickets and no wrecks....they can get better rates.
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No, even in cities where lots of people could walk to school, walking to school has become a rarity. Lots of people live right next door to each other and don't know it because they get driven to school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Once you got your driver's license, it didn't really matter because you already knew where your friends were because you went to school with them. Getting the license just meant you could finally got to places formerly forbidden like the mall.
I don't think kids are delaying g
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I’d blame the car fetishization of previous generations, at least in part. Getting your first car was a mark of independence. Proof that you had arrived and were free. A rite of passage with layers of social expectations. Much of it (though not all! I’m not indicting everyone as exhibiting this behavior) was nothing more than pointless social posturing and immaturity, both on the part of the child and the adults who enabled them. Never mind that the kid in most cases didn’t have any partic
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I’d blame the car fetishization of previous generations, at least in part. Getting your first car was a mark of independence.
I blame it on atrocious city planning. It's a mark of independence because you need a car. Freedom to move how you want when you want.
Instead true freedom is not needing a damn car in the first place.
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Funny, I started working W2 jobs part time at 16yrs during high school.
I saved and with some help from parents bought my car.
With that, I now drove MYSELF to work. I drove myself to school, etc.....I learned adult lessons on responsibility...
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Smartphones have ruined concerts.
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We must go to different concerts. I have a blast when I go and let me tell you, my phone isn't in my hand. A beer, a joint but NEVER a stupid phone.
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My phone is never in my hand, but the majority of people have one in their hand during shows. Rob Zombie begged the audience to put down their phones for just one song when I saw him a few years ago. He put on a surprisingly good show.
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My walk to school would have been about 30 miles, some of us don't live in cities.
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I would blame cars instead. The bulk of socialization my generation (X) had was done as children outside. There were few cars, and we not only walked to school (and sometimes kindergarten!) on foot, but also spent most of the time with friends (and enemies...). Today, even Europe is moving to the degenerate American system where you can't leave the house without a car.
Oh, and dare to walk from/to kindergarten or early school as a kid -- there'll be instant police arresting parents for "child endangerment". Because with all the cars it's no longer safe to walk...
I suspect it has nothing to do with cars, certainly not with kids driving themselves (here, you get your license at 18, a provisional one at 17, and no one in high school has a car, and very few college students do). The big shift here was not cars, but the way parents got involved in their kids' playtime. When I was young (Gen X), kids were free. You did whatever, dangerous shit even, and your parents never even knew much less got involved. The very idea of a "play date" did no exist, play was spontane
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As an older millennial (1984) I grew up as you describe. We'd just get on our bikes and disappear for the day. Typically we would end up at one friend's house or another and I'd get scolded for forgetting to call and report where I was.
As you said, we were off doing who knows what and it was a lot of fun. Parents didn't plan ANYTHING for us. We just did stuff and figured it out.
Also, getting a car was still a big deal for me. I didn't really want to drive as I was happy playing on my computer, but I still s
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I would blame cars instead.
Sorry, but no.
We're talking about the kind of tech addiction where a smartphone does not stop being used until the pre-pubesent addict still driving a Nintendo controller falls asleep.
We're talking about the same kind of addiction that will dominate nursing homes, for those who don't even drive anymore.
See what kind of addiction steps out of almost every public bathroom stall and you'll quickly see it hardly takes a "car".
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The authors were really focused on 'kids today are not socializing the way we did, thus they are socializing less because our lives are the only metric we consider valid'.
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Are you from the US? It doesn't sound like it.
I'm right from the end of Boomer and start of X I guess, right on the cusp.
We always had car
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Wait, what state is that Europe thingy in, again?
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I walked and rode my bike all over town. It doesn't really matter how many cars there are if you cross at lights and never assume drivers see you.
This is why America has a shockingly high number of pedestrian deaths.
In other places they design junctions to reduce conflict between different modes of transport, rather than rely on perfection and pointing the finger of blame when fallible humans aren't endlessly perfect.
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Educated guess... (Score:2)
and What That Means for the Rest of Us
Without reading the book I know that he has not the foggiest idea about that.
Is it phones or something else? (Score:4, Interesting)
We're all doomscrolling more than ever, no denying it. But it seems disingenuous to blame it all on phones and social media. This generation is growing up into existential crises the depth and breadth of which we've never seen -- impending climate doom, the decline and possible fall of democracy, polarization to the point of possible civil war (a huge fraction of US Gen Zers think it's likely in their lifetime), massive wealth inequality unseen since a century ago, and of course a pandemic with all of its attendant societal breakdowns. But they should be OK with all of that, just put down their phones and go outside for a walk? Hmm.
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But they should be OK with all of that, just put down their phones and go outside for a walk? Hmm.
Yes, they should, and then they would meet other people, have conversations, maybe a discussion, make friends, work together, on top of which get some exercise so they don't become the typical obese American.
The horror of getting out and doing something rather than looking at a four inch screen for hours on end.
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The horror of getting out and doing something rather than looking at a four inch screen for hours on end.
I think you'll find they're mostly six inches since about 2015.
Re:Is it phones or something else? (Score:4)
I agree with you that they should get out and meet people IRL, absolutely. What I can see from my kids is that they do that -- and they use their phones to organize. My point was really that they can't "be OK with all of that [impending doom]" and *just* go outside. They feel powerless and that causes real mental health harm. Yes, there are better ways to self-medicate than doomscrolling, but the underlying fear is still there, in a way that seems really different than when I was growing up in the '60s and '70s. (I didn't even mention that many of them have immense college debt they'll be paying off most of their lives.)
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We shouldn't be beating them over the head with all that crap in the first place. Those glorious little smart phones have them consuming all this information, constantly! Of course they are stressed out. It's no better for adults but most of us are better at compartmentalizing that shit. Most of us realize it's beyond our control and worry about real issues, like what's for dinner!
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Existential crisis the depth and breath of which we've never seen? Well, you're right in one regard, you haven't. But if that "we" is supposed to include the rest of humanity, some people who grew up between the world wars might want to have a word with you.
The decline and possible fall of democracy? Does Germany in the 1930s ring a bell? With the difference that these people actually had a pretty good reason to fall for the asshole, they were fucking starving and actually had no future to look forward to.
Re:Is it phones or something else? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm 60yo and live in the US. Grew up with "duck and cover" and Vietnam and the cold war and all the wars in the middle east. I know what that felt like, and seeing things through my kids' eyes, this is different.
Yes, it's not life during wartime. No single one of the things I mentioned is as immediately dire as living through a war, for sure. But the breadth of existential threats everywhere you look, the paucity of refuges, the seeming inevitability and the indifference of the powerful, certainly makes for a significant amount of anxiety among the Gen Z kids (and me too, frankly). So yeah, they self-medicate with their phones. But they also take to the streets with people like Greta Thunberg and Amanda Gorman and John Lewis. So there's that. And yeah, the hippies took to the streets too, and that didn't turn into the utopia they wanted. So the kids that know history become even more disenchanted.
I agree that phones (especially social media) share some of the blame, no doubt about that. But to point to that as the primary cause of Gen Z's ills seems a bit disingenuous.
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You fuckers need to relax and realize it's not in your control. Stop panicking about every little thing already. We're already working on global warming. We're be just fine. really. As far as democracy goes, worrying about it isn't going to help. Get out and vote but beyond that, it's not up to you. Just chill out. Go smoke a bowl. Besides, both parties are flogging us constantly anyway. By design.
Constantly getting bombarded with all the badness of the world is precisely what is wrong with us. Bad shit has
Re:Is it phones or something else? (Score:5, Insightful)
The nuclear weapons are still there. Proliferation has increased the number of idiots holding on to them, not decreased.
Climate change is on the same scale of disaster as nuclear war, but what sets it apart is that instead of being a potential future disaster, it is a certain, in-progress disaster. I'd gladly trade one for the other, which is why I advocate for nuclear power as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But climate change doesn't quite capture the totality of the existential issue, either. Resource depletion is what the problem really is. Climate change is of course a huge driver in that, eating away at arable land, land suitable for habitation, water supply and so on year after year. But it's hardly the only process eating away at the resources people need to thrive.
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It's resource depletion via capitalism and climate change. You can also have resource mismanagement in a communist or other system. The draining of the Aral Sea in the USSR, for example. None of this exists in a vacuum, since everything is now done at a global scale, on a globe overstuffed with consumers.
It all boils down to humanity living beyond its means. It might work for years, decades, but eventually you have to pay the piper. That is hard for people to grasp, since they've been conditioned to equate
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Stop producing so many kids.... Of course won't hear a politician suggest that.
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You're taking the word "resource" in a too narrow way. I never suggested we would run out of oil. I suggested we would run out of suitable land and water. So no, climate change isn't a result of resource depletion, it's a cause of resource depletion. One of the causes, there are others as well, like gross land mismanagement. Super boring stuff like soil erosion that barely gets talked about. Fossil water being depleted.
Huge chunks of America's midwest "bread basket" are being grown with fossil water. Many a
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I'd argue overpopulation is a bigger problem then climate change and itself is also causing climate change. We're working on climate change. Actively! Continuing to think the world is going to end is just insane and will drive you in that direction. Why are you even dwelling on it? You certainly can't change it. Do your best and maybe try and push (very lightly) for positive change but seriously don't get your panties in a bunch over it.
If you have kids, teach them to reuse stuff and avoid consumable bullsh
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You mean as opposed to the generation that grew up with the constant threat of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union? During the upheaval when factories in the US were shutdown and moved overseas, and "the Japanese are taking our jobs"? When there was double digit inflation, and banks were closing left and right due to the S&L crisis? When the hole in the ozone layer was going to destroy life as we knew it? And Social Security was going to run out of money by the time that gener
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Garbage In, Garbage Out (Score:2)
As a result, the bulk of this generation has grown up not understanding what to do with unlimited, worldwide access to an unfathomable quantity of knowledge, art, culture and other human beings. The result: Qua
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It sounds like you haven't raised children recently.
when it came to letting billions of strangers influence and shape their kids worldviews, that all got a free pass without any relevant guidance provided
It's not so easy to prevent these "billions of strangers" from being able to reach children because there are so many ways they can get around any restrictions placed on them by their parents. And there is such a thing as over-sheltering (helicopter parenting).
The reality is, children have to be taught how to defend against the many negative influences in their lives, and they can't do that if they're never exposed to them. It's critical for parents to be
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It sounds like you haven't raised children recently.
Perp claims not to be perp. Seriously. Also you should look up "fallacy".
The reality is, children have to be taught how to defend against the many negative influences in their lives, and they can't do that if they're never exposed to them. It's critical for parents to be involved in their children's lives, but you can't shield them from *everything,* particularly as they grow older.
I agree to that. They will get exposed to all kind of dangerous stuff and most is not avoidable longer-term. And no, it is not "stranger danger" or similar fear-porn. The only question is whether they will be prepared or not. Shelter them and they will be unprepared. Restrict them too much and they will not trust you when they have a problem and you lose the ability to help and they will likely not be experienced enough to help themsel
Another rake (Score:3)
A lack of reality (Score:2)
Parents aren't saying 'get out of the house' anymore. For city children, friends tend to be further away, parents aren't allowed to send their children onto busy streets and buses are expensive (small cities don't have a weekly ticket). My generation got out of the house because there wasn't much to do inside. Nowadays, wi-fi means children can connect to strangers, friends (and enemies) without leaving their room.
While there wasn't sex education (there still isn't) and pregnancy education, watching th
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There are in fact a bunch of laws about that, and it's easy to find citations.
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e.g. "three States [childwelfare.gov] currently have laws regarding a minimum age for
leaving a child home alone: Illinois, 14 years old; Maryland,
8 years old; and Oregon, 10 years old."
while on the plus side, kinda
The recently-signed Every Student Succeeds Act contains a section (858) that protects the rights of kids to walk or go out alone [...] Though it doesnâ(TM)t replace any state or local laws, such clarification could help curb the growing trend of cops picking up kids while they play or travel unattended. [fastcompany.com]
There's
Correlation, not causation (Score:5, Insightful)
The smartphone generation is also the post 9/11 generation, the post Obama generation, the ascendancy of climate change to the mainstream and identity-politics/identitarian clashes. Kids live in their own bubble, but they aren't immune to adult culture and public education isn't helping.
Hope and change became blame and doom.
The headline that works forever (Score:2)
"Technology that scares parent generation because it does not understand it is popular with their kids and this will spell doom for those kids because they don't grow up right".
You can use that through the ages. I'm pretty sure Ugh was worried about his offspring Gugh because of his fascination with that weird newfangled stuff "fire". I mean, you can't even touch it without getting hurt, that kid will kill himself!
Living in a collapsing empire (Score:3, Insightful)
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This has more to do with economic uncertainty and poverty than smart phones.
How so, when by roughly every measure we're wealthier today than we were decades ago? Houses are more expensive, but only because they're bigger; on an inflation-adjusted cost per square foot basis they're actually cheaper -- and they're nicer. Pretty much everything is cheaper, when adjusted for total income (incl. transfers). Millennials are wealthier now than either their parents or grandparents were at the same age, and they've almost caught up to Boomers in home ownership, in spite of the higher home p
Like TV in the 70s (Score:5, Insightful)
In the 70s (give or take a decade) TV had the same kind of impact on children. They spent countless hours in front of the flickering tube, instead of going outside and socializing. Many people formed addictions that were hard to break.
As my children grew up in the early 2000s, we placed some practical boundaries around device use. Things like:
- No devices at the dinner table
- Finish homework before being allow to play video games or get on social media
- Time limits on internet use
- Computer use only in a family room, not bedrooms
Every family is different, but the important thing is to set boundaries that work for YOUR children.
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Best advice is as you say: Pay attention to your family, talk about it, and set boundaries. Good luck to all!
I notice this, but it might not be bad (Score:2)
Is this bad? (Score:2)
Off the four things in "go out with friends, drive, go to prom or drink alcohol", I'd consider only one reasonably good (going out with friends), one neutral (drive), and two bad (proms are pretty bad, IMO).
I think that just because we define adulthood a certain way, that doesn't mean that's the way it should be defined. As someone said in the quotes, it's a big question mark.
What adulthood will mean in the future not only changes because of what kids are doing, but because tech is moving forward continuall
phones no, social media perhaps (Score:2)
Different doesn't mean wrong. (Score:2)
If you compare 2018 to 1988, the cost of used cars grew faster than wages. Buying a used car for Gen Z requires a greater commitment of (work) time than it did for Gen X. Additionally, many of the things we (Gen X) needed cars for are not required for Gen Z because (on a whole) we're more involved parents than ours were. So, we're at more of the games, we're more likely volunteering with the scout t
Umbrella Generation (Score:3)
It's the umbrella generation.
It has little to do with smart phones, and everything to do with the attitude that children need to be sheltered from absolutely everything until their minds have finally solidified into adulthood(*)
The younger generation start arguments with strangers who says things they don't like. If you did that back in my day there's a decent chance you'd be seeing a dentist the next day for emergency care.
* - people misinterpret the study by a wide margin, if you ignore life experiences before the age of 25, and you set your expectations really low; when the brain does finally settle on a personality it's too late to mold it into something substantially different.
I'll leave out the part that ~25 isn't a "wake up one day and your brain is frozen forever with you current personality" bullshit; but, in our mid twenties the brain does seem to be harder to mold in key ways.
Expectations of GenZ are close to zero; and the most amazing thing is how people tend to meet expectations.
Old generation complains new generation ... (Score:2)
aren't exactly like they are.
News at 11.
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Except these kids these days are actually far more tolerant of people who are different from them and able to handle diversity without thinking that the world has come to destroy who they are.
They're kinder, more generous and far far more responsible than the kids I grew up with in the 70s and 80s.
And yes, they are more sensitive than their elders, but in a way that I cannot see as anything but a good thing.
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Old generation is worried that the new generation
Well, eventually they'll die and it won't be something they'll have to worry about. Society changes and adapts to new norms; it always has.
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Remember when we complained something was unfair? What was the response, every. single. time? That life isn't fair and that's to bad.
Seems like now we are so fixated on "fairness" and it's still not fair and it's NEVER going to be fair. You make your own happiness. People don't give it to you. Happiness is a state of mind and can't be given. Happiness isn't material possession either. In fact, I'd argue as long as you have some of the basics covered, the rest is really just gravy. If not having a "want" is
Helicopter Parenting (Score:2)
Same old same old from Twenge (Score:2)
She’s been banging this particular drum for years, and it’s clear that it’s motivated reasoning (in both senses, because she’s got a financial motivation for saying it). Actual evidence-based studies find no meaningful link of the type she proposes.
Boomers are just as much screen addicts (Score:2)
I've noticed I almost never see an article critical of the Baby Boomers. And when I do, it's full of equivocation and "but it's OK boomers do X because...".
There's no boomer equivalent to Avocado Toast. Nothing where the entire media just piled on. And honestly? There should be. Boomers have been in charge for 40 years and look where that's got us. Multiple disastrous wars. A failing healthcare system. Huge and pointless national d
Re: Boomers are just as much screen addicts (Score:2)
I'm surprised Gen-X (my generation) was even mentioned anywhere. I hear all about "Boomers", millenials, and Gen-Z but ours seem to be the forgotten generation.
No (Score:2)
We must remember that young people today were brought up with "stranger Danger, some were told that everyone wants to either kill or rape them, some were told they were monsters, and parents who believed all that claptrap trained their children that laying on your bed watching TikTok videos or looking at scantily clad babes on Instagram was nice and safe. And much of society agreed.
A lot of young people are sort of
Parents, pandemic, poverty, not smartphones (Score:2)
I work with kids. The parents are plugged in constantly, so they are. They grew up not being allowed to go play outside, and just got done with two years of lockdowns. More and more kids are below the poverty line. They're staring down a climate apocalypse and a government that wants to murder their trans friends. The idea of 'essential life experiences' seems trite in comparison.
But what I see the most
Re: Parents, pandemic, poverty, not smartphones (Score:2)
"I work with kids. The parents are plugged in constantly, so they are. They grew up not being allowed to go play outside, and just got done with two years of lockdowns. More and more kids are below the poverty line. They're staring down a climate apocalypse and a government that wants to murder their trans friends. The idea of 'essential life experiences' seems trite in comparison"
The physical world is a nasty beast and getting moreso as time goes on. One slip up, even a little one can cost people their liv
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It used to be (Score:2)
Too much television
and then it was too much video games. And then it was too much time in front of the computer. And now smartphones.
The real issue is self control as well as peer and societal pressure.
Last Gen (Score:3)
GenZ says to me
the last generation
so long, thanks for all the fish
Re:Fake drama (Score:4, Insightful)
A $787 million settlement says that it's Fox News that is "manufacturing fake drama."
I'm no fan of CNN either, but let's not pretend the right is any better than the left, when it comes to manufacturing drama.
Re: Fake drama (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I believe the FTC should force FOX to drop the word news ...
Was hoping the settlement would include them having to put the word in quotations: Fox "News" :-)
Re: (Score:2)
Did the GP even suggest that Fox is any different? Heck, CNN even did news in the past, until around 2015.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It never was just drugs.
When my generation was growing up in the 70s, it was TV. Same thing as today's smartphones--people spent hours and hours in front of that tube instead of going outside and being with people.
Re: (Score:2)
Then video game consoles came along, and people could spend hours and hours in front of the tube... but at least they're doing it together.
Re: (Score:2)
If phones were ONLY communications devices it wouldn't be so bad. They are texting and snap chatting with friends. Social media on the other hand is giving greedy adults unfettered access to those children. That's the problem.
Re: (Score:2)
Drugs never have been a major problem. The main problem with drugs is that the religiously deranged do not want you to have fun with anything except prayer. Hence dire restrictions on sex, drugs, entertainment, topics to talk or think about, food, education, etc.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Sigh, if you have a full time minimum wage job and you have a friend with the same, you can afford a fucking apartment. Let's play the math game. I live in San Diego, one of the most expensive cities in the world. I'll use that for an example. We currently pay $16.30 for minimum wage. So some basic math puts this at 16.30x40x52=33,904.
California you'd have to pay $377.85 plus 4% of the amount over $23,942. So 33904-23942=9962*.04=398.48+377.85=$776.33. That's your state income tax.
Federal you'd pay $1,027.5
Re:symptom, not cause (Score:4, Interesting)
You forgot school. When is your theoretical person supposed to study and how do you suppose they'll pay for it?
You also assUme that they'll get 30 hours (rare for minimum wage these days). Don't forget if you save the $3300/month on rent, car and insurance come back to eat it.
Also, if you can get 2BR for 2200/month, SD is FAR from the most expensive place in the U.S. and $16.30 is probably the highest minimum wage in the U.S. and only applies within the SD city limits.
Also, no health insurance in that budget, so I guess you advise against luxuries like getting sick (since minimum wage tends not to come with sick pay) and no western medicine?
Re: (Score:2)
Minimum wage you likely won't even own a car. In San Diego, you can take public transportation. Takes longer but is doable. If you are on minimum wage, you'll be able to get grants and governor's waiver and the pal grant.
As far as healthcare, I didn't say you were thriving on minimum wage, just getting by. It's not a living wage it's the bare minimum.
You also are oh so screwed if you have a kid on minimum wage. I can't control for people making poor life choices such as thinking minimum wage is going to get
Re: (Score:2)
But only if you get a unicorn minimum wage job that offers reliable full time employment and Prof McGonagall loans you a time turner so you can have time to do 40 hours of work and go to classes and study. On the plus side, McGonagall seems to genuinely want to help students who have proven to be trustworthy and genuinely want to learn, on the minus side, she and time turners are fictional so you will soon wake up and realize you're late for work.
Also, don't dare get sick, no health insurance or paid sick
Re: (Score:2)
I also didn't say MOST expensive place, just one of the most expensive places. There are probably 10 or more cities that cost even more, but that doesn't mean San Diego still isn't up there. Probably in the top 50 out of all the cities globally.
Re: symptom, not cause (Score:2)
"Meanwhile, the kids are dealing with cuckoos worried that 'underperforming' in kindergarten might impact your chances of getting into the right college. WTF?!?"
If this was a reliable indication of how a kid would turn out later in life, I should be in federal prison right now.
Yes, "coo coos". And what's scary is that they are targeting an age group who can't fight back and defend themselves, or even understand what's going on behind their backs. :-\
Re: (Score:2)
They're specific examples of the general idea being pushed: that gen Z kids aren't really growing up and hitting normal life milestones that all involve taking on additional responsibility, learning how to handle themselves in normal human interactions, and all of the things these affect, like self-confidence, ability to resolve conflict and navigate disagreement or unexpected hardship and adversity, master the skill of mastering new skills, learn how to learn, and so on.
There's a great book called 'The Cod