Ridge Runner Chronicles: What is going on with our kids?
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By Bill Hoagland
Every morning during the school year, I drive by a bunch of school kids who are waiting for a school bus. Thirty years ago, those kids would have been interacting with each other, laughing and enjoying each others company as they waited for the bus. Today, as I drive past, they are all staring at their smartphones like zombies, with no apparent interaction with other students. My guess is that they continue to stare at their smartphones during the bus ride and then probably periodically throughout the day at school and most certainly at night in their bedrooms. Many kids are staring at their smartphones over nine hours a day.
Folks, this is not normal behavior and unfortunately, it appears to be a problem for an entire generation. Yes, we are talking specifically about Generation Z, those children born after 1995. The most recent expert raising the alarm about what is happening to “our kids”—those in Generation Z—is Jonathan Haidt, a professor at New York University and a recognized authority on social psychology. He has recently written a book entitled “The Anxious Generation—How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental IIlness”. It is a “must read”.
If you think we don’t have an epidemic of mental illness with our kids, consider the fact that over 30 percent of teenage girls are chronically depressed and many have considered suicide. Teenaged boys are addicted to video games and porn that is readily available on their smartphones; they have none of the normal interests that boys traditionally have had over the years. And we are all aware of the accelerating and alarming suicide rate for these kids.
According to Dr. Haidt, part of the problem is that beginning in 1980, we began switching from a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood. To put it another way, for those of us who grew up in the 1940’s,1950’s and 1960’s, the only rule most of us had on the weekends and during the summer was “just be home in time for dinner”. This was a very important childhood experience for us, one in which we learned to resolve our own issues and disappointments, we learned how to get along with others and once in a while, we undertook some risky but significant “Tom Sawyer” adventures. All of these experiences were important for our development into adults. Those experiences never happen for Generation Zers. As Dr. Haidt explains, “Generation Z is the first generation to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addictive, unstable and unsuitable for children and adolescents.”
I wish I had the space in this column to relate to you some of the sobering relevations in this book. If you have children or grandchildren in Generation Z, you need to read this book. And even if you are not directly connected to Generation Z, this book explains a lot about why so many people today—not just the adolescents– seem to be completely “nuts”.
The ultimate cause of this problem could be the so-called “smartphone”, that was designed to keep us so addicted that we can’t seemingly live without one constantly by our side.
• Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
