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FoxtrotOscar
08-04-17, 12:57 PM
Teens today are more likely to be lonely, depressed and immature than any previous generation, according to analysis published in The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/?utm_source=atlfb).

According to Jean M. Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University who has been researching generational differences for 25 years, the culprit is the smartphone.

Why it matters: Physically, the iGen are safer than previous generations, but psychologically they are much more vulnerable to mental illness, including serious upticks in depression and suicide, according to the report.

"There is compelling evidence that the devices we've placed in young people's hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy," writes Twenge.

What's at stake: Smartphones aren't going anywhere, and as Twenge points out, of those who suffer from depression at a young age, at least half become depressed again later in life.

USMC 2571
08-04-17, 01:18 PM
I believe that to a certain extent, but it doesn't seem like this huge problem among teenagers is due mainly to a smartphone. There seem to be numerous other causes.

oldtop
08-04-17, 01:43 PM
kids today don't TALK to each other, they text... not long ago, I was at a Friday night "cruse in" at a local hamburger joint. Inside, were about 12 kids, sitting at one long table together... they were NOT talking to each other, in fact, the silence from that table was eerie, what they WERE doing was TEXTING... EACH OTHER!!! The experience kind of reminded me of that 70's song "In the Year 2525"... this keeps up, the human race might loose the ability to talk....

madsox
08-04-17, 02:14 PM
I'm more inclined to think that depression and isolation and many of these other problems aren't really any more common nowadays, we're just (as a society) much more driven to label people. Including with terms that should really be left to actual psychiatrists/psychologists to apply.

Everybody has to be given their labels and categories and put into their little box, or we don't know how to deal with them.

Luckily, I see signs of that changing. At least with my daughter (16 years old) and her friends - they don't like the way people get all these labels put on them, and really do just look at each other for who they are. More than the advertisers and politicians and others who drive things do, anyway, by a lot!

I mean, they're teenagers, so there are still the labels for different cliques, and the preps and the goths and whatever, but they don't seem to take that any more seriously than we did when I was that age. So I'm not as worried as others.

Comm talk in another post, this is getting too long...

madsox
08-04-17, 02:21 PM
For talking vs. texting vs. other ways of communicating? My daughter's generation uses their phones for texting, for facetime or skype, for sharing instagram pictures and pinterest "pins", and even sometimes for talking. But that table full of kids Top saw would, around here, have had probably 3-4 group text chats going on with the kids holding three conversations at once - so they're learning to communicate in a whole new way, and talking is just one part.

It's pretty strange, and a little creepy, until you get used to it, but as these youngsters grow up we may just find that they're more connected socially than we were. They just have a lot of new ways to connect that we either never had or had to learn about once we were already adults.

Strange new world, it is! I wouldn't say it's the end of civilization though.

But wait for the power to go out, let those phone batteries die, and get the kids out to hang out face-to-face, it's good for 'em! Once in a while, at least...

s/f

FistFu68
08-04-17, 02:33 PM
Great Post Andy your a Cool Daddy that didn't forget he was a Grasshopper too :marine:

Tennessee Top
08-04-17, 02:53 PM
Their thumbs are in a lot better shape than previous generations - I'll give them that.

madsox
08-04-17, 02:55 PM
Their thumbs are in a lot better shape than previous generations - I'll give them that.

:banana:

True dat, Top!

Mongoose
08-04-17, 03:28 PM
When Top and I was kids....we used smoke signals and tin cans with string to communicate.

Old Marine
08-04-17, 03:54 PM
Have never owned a cell phone and do not plan on owning one. Fact is I think it is great to get out and not have to listen to the phone ring. Nothing like peace and quiet in the country.

Tennessee Top
08-04-17, 06:17 PM
^^^got one but it's the old flip style with oversized numbers for seniors from AARP.