I was reading a lengthy article a couple of days ago by a lady named Jean Twenge. The article centered around making correlations between Iphone releases and various adolescent trends. Twenge was able to find numerous links between social trends of adolescent Iphone users and social issues that are facing that age group these days. Ms. Twenge found so many correlative relationships in fact that she was able to name the latest generation of kids coming up as the IGen (short for Iphone Generation of course). Whatever name we give this group of kids there are certainly very interesting views of the world floating around in their heads and much of it has to do with the way they socialize these days.
Some of the most interesting data that Twenge was able to share included the decline in teen pregnancy since since the 90’s. Parallel to this statistic is the fact that fewer kids are having sex at young ages then as far back as the 1930’s under the generational research that was conducted for the article. Additionally, teens are nearly half as likely to want to drive a car or hang out with their friends during the week as they were again in the 90’s. Some of this sounds good at the onset. It is great that kids are waiting to have sex until they are older and not turning up pregnant during their teenage years. But we should look a little deeper into the phenomena that is occurring with our kids.
According to the Twenge research, which is compelling, kids are choosing to use social media rather than be social in the context of the 1990’s. When I was young, I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license. The freedom that little card brought to my life was a part of the right of passage into independence. Think for a minute why it was so important to get a driver’s license in my time. The answer…the only way to get to socialize then was by going to wherever the social event was located. Whether it was a party at the river or “go til you blow” at the local Waffle House with the football team, a person had to be physically present in order to socialize and we are social creatures. These days a kid doesn’t even have to leave his or her bedroom in order to socialize with world of people and they often don’t. Of course this brings on a whole different set of concerns.
Teen suicide is on the rise often attributed to the seclusion that is attached to the use of social media. Interesting that we use the words seclusion and social in the same sentence. Kids feel blue when they are left out and it is very simple to get left out of social media. Additionally, according to Twenge, kids have less study time then we did in the 90’s which gives more availability to the time uses of social media. Kids are much more likely these days to go lay on their beds and spend away their time staring at a phone screen.
Kids who spend three hours or more a day on social media sleep less than seven hours a night and are more likely to exhibit signs of depression. If you have ever experienced sleep deprivation, then you know how emotional you can be. The converse is true as well. If you have experienced depression, then you know how hard it can be to sleep. Kids may be putting themselves into a cycle of the chicken and the egg scenario without even knowing it. Sleep is extremely important to the proper development of young minds. See my last post for more information about that topic.
The truth is that young people need our guidance on these issues. The IPhone alone is not to blame. Parents are still the single most important influence in a young person’s life. It is the parent’s job to stay engaged and help their child better understand the responsibilities and challenges of technology, particularly in the realm of social media. This technology isn’t going away. If anything, it will continue to spread and evolve. Young people need the tools to better co-exist with that process. They also still need the soft skills that real social interaction provide. Perhaps we all just need to unplug once in awhile. Below is the link to Twenge’s article in its entirety.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/
