Very interesting article Fagan. Balances out older peopleās nostalgia for their youth with real life cognitive studies of what is happening to younger people. The post millenial generation are less likely to be sexually active, less likely to drink alcohol, do drugs or even simply hang out in person with their friends. Positives are less teen pregnancies, less car deaths and generally greater safety. Negatives are increased depression.
Some interesting bits;
But the allure of independence, so powerful to previous generations, holds less sway over todayās teens, who are less likely to leave the house without their parents. The shift is stunning: 12th-graders in 2015 were going out less often than eighth-graders did as recently as 2009.
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Gen X managed to stretch adolescence beyond all previous limits: Its members started becoming adults earlier and finished becoming adults later. Beginning with Millennials and continuing with iGen, adolescence is contracting againābut only because its onset is being delayed. Across a range of behaviorsādrinking, dating, spending time unsupervisedā 18-year-olds now act more like 15-year-olds used to, and 15-year-olds more like 13-year-olds. Childhood now stretches well into high school
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The more time teens spend looking at screens, the more likely they are to report symptoms of depression. Eighth-graders who are heavy users of social media increase their risk of depression by 27 percent, while those who play sports, go to religious services, or even do homework more than the average teen cut their risk significantly.
The Chuch is the way back to happiness. I told you weād make a comeback.
One piece of data that indirectly but stunningly captures kidsā growing isolation, for good and for bad: Since 2007, the homicide rate among teens has declined, but the suicide rate has increased.
This was the report I was referring to a few days ago and I see it was @Fagan_ODowd and @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy who laughed off the effect of smart phones and social mediaā¦
Itās interesting how in the 2000s you saw teenagers feeling less lonely. Iād say the early stages of the internet actually helped in that respect. Teenagers with different interests could find other like minded people online. You had the likes of MSN, MySpace and Bebo which were a new way to get in contact with people, but not all pervading in someones life.
We might have to wait a generation to see what impact the internet has had on peopleās IQs, but I would say the results wonāt be good.
@thedancingbaby, was this in North county dublin this morning? I only found out the other day about a guy i know my age who committed suicide. His folks and my folks would be friends. We would have been on family holidays together when we were teens.
In the early days, mobile phones and the likes of Bebo were put to good use organising piss ups or chatting to birds you might only see every now and then otherwise. Actually any early BookFace āmemoriesā that come up on my timeline now are mostly engaging in cringy banter with friends, posting on each otherās pages. It was still interacting with people though.
At some point Facebook changed and it became more about interacting with Facebook itself and broadcasting yourself. The other forms of social media operate in a similar vein. If you were to go by Facebook, interacting with your friends in 2017 consists of writing your friendsā name (followed by this supremely irritating cunt: ) under some lame video you probably didnāt even watch.
I gave up Facebook 4 years ago, the straw that broke the camels back for me was when the āno make up selfiesā to raise money/awareness for some bullshit or otherā¦it was all a ālook at meā exercise and the āoh hun you look stunningā validation/falseness written underneathā¦quitting was the best decision I ever made!
Aside from that, I see my teenage nieces and nephews who wonāt go near Facebook and none of their friends seem to bother with it, itās all Snapchat and Instagram with them
Ah yeah but FB isnāt as big with teenagers now. Itās more a thing people just scroll through for videos as you say. Instagram is a far more vacuous medium.
Iād say itās more aimless than anything else, just some crap you scroll through on your smartphone.
Itās the middle aged fucking loop the loops posting pics of their children, pets, holidays etc to try and make themselves relevant is the only use FB is today.
Mate, thatās hilarious, except for the children (swap middle aged for codger) that sounds an awful lot more like yourself except obviously everything you do will be superior as usual
) under some lame video you probably didnāt even watch.
except obviously everything you do will be superior as usual