Excerpt: In his recent book, “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt writes: “At the turn of the millennium, technology companies created a set of world-changing products that transformed life not just for adults but for children, too. … Yet, the companies that developed them had done little or no research on the mental health effects. When faced with growing evidence that their products were harming young people, they mostly engaged in denial, obfuscation, and public relations campaigns.”
The result has placed our children in a virtual cage that has isolated them physically, socially, and emotionally—with little hope of escape.
Trapped in this virtual cage, girls suffer massive depression as they face pressure to conform to certain body images, become targeted by predators, and are mocked by their peers if they choose not to participate in an online game of one-upmanship based on looks.
Mr. Haidt states: “The more time a girl spends on social media, the more likely she is to be depressed or anxious. Girls who say they spend five or more hours each weekday on social media are three times as likely to be depressed as those who report no social media time.”
…
To free our children from the virtual cage that has entrapped them, he suggests four types of response: (1) no smartphones before 14 years of age; (2) no access to social media before the age of 16; (3) banning smartphones from schools; and (4) allow more unsupervised play and childhood independence.
But while all of these recommendations are good, they continue to put all of the onus on parents who find themselves standing alone against a tsunami of even more technological dangers, in particular, AI, coming their way.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/gen-z-trapped-virtual-cage
And a few of the reactions–
mtl4: You don’t cut them off from the world if you want resilient kids. Parents are there to help them understand and make good choices from what they do experience.
coer: Then put them in contact with the real world.
Not the virtual warped world we call “online”.
Aloha: Apparently there IS quite a lot wrong with the online world, because it is causing a mental health and suicide crisis far beyond anything the “real” world ever did. I would argue that most of the peak stupid like gender dysphoria is also spread online. And then of course the hostility, division and bullying online that we have all experienced. There is a LOT wrong with the online world and any parent who thinks it’s fine for their kids to have open access is fooling themselves.
mental: I have a gen-z kid. But I cancelled cable TV in 2004. No video games. First cell phone was at age 18. My kid has the same attitude and skills and her parents. Not one single problem and I’m no stellar parent. Just common sense, reasonable discipline and no brainwashing garbage from the media, phone apps or video games. My kid now has a high paying great job with a secure future.
Tiggr: Narcissistic personality disorder is a medical mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. Social media platforms promote the same for profit e.g. attract people that need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them, lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others, and behind a mask of extreme confidence, are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.
Yikes: The new tech is just a new way to push the old poison.
Women who spent too much time with women in the past were always made depressed and anxious by it.
Boys always stay playboys unless forced to take on responsibility.
New tech just speeds it up some.
Since the 1980s, marketing has expressly infantilized teenagers and young adults.
Because infantilized minds are extremely easy to manipulate and control.
Aussie: Why would anyone be surprised that boys are failing, leaning into red pill sites, ****, spending much of their time playing computer games and have such a derisory attitude towards woman. Young guys have zero role models in their lives, many are from solo mum families and yet for some mysterious reason Society thinks this will result in responsible men, expect ever more Peter Pan type soy boys.
You reap what you sow.
Inner: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to the restaurant and seen a family, or at least you would imagine they could have been one, gathered at the table all head down looking into their portable idiot boxes with nary a spoken word amongst themselves. Or the lone kid with a tablet tapping away oblivious to the fools who masquerade as their parents.
Glen: Breaking addiction is difficult but not impossible. You just have to put it down and walk away.
Tech has its place, but when it takes over it’s the worst of addictions…there’s so much more out there than just looking at a device.
Staring at a phone 24/7 is not going to improve your life. Waiting for likes or what ever is not going to improve you life. If you want to be a perpetual slave just keep sleepwalking the way your are now.
lambhidingplace 