With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit

Too quick to blame, "the screen". Is it really just the existence of social media that caused this, or is it maybe a change of culture that emerged with the spread of the Internet and social media?

For example, today a child from a religious community might encounter atheism at 12 or 13 whereas previously they would encounter it when they went off to college. Maybe that child happens to be suffering from depression and their faith would have provided them with the hope that they needed to persevere, but having discovered atheism at such a tender age, they are left hopeless and desolate. Not mature enough to deal with their problems on their own and with no reason to believe that things will get any better.

I am not saying that the rise of atheism is a factor. It is just one example I came up with, on the spot, to explain how the change of culture due to the Internet might be the actual cause powering this trend, rather than the usage of the social media itself.

>"Look at all these rich beautiful people with millions of followers sailing around the world on their yachts."

How is this any different than society at large? How is this any different from TV and newspapers?

> Ten minutes on Instagram is enough to fill any sane person with existential dread and bring about severe depression.

Ten minutes on HN is enough considering all the fear mongering being pushed here.

And most people who use instagram are not severely depressed. Go figure. Wonder why that is"?

Or you could spend a few seconds reading the article, and find out that they addressed this obvious criticism.

> Have you ever met a teenager?

Yes. And we've all been teenagers.

>Almost literally zero percent of them think (or need to think) about this stuff, with the possible exception of some of the very oldest teenagers (ie, people in their first or second year of college who are starting to think about the details of the start of their careers).

What? EVERY teenager thinks about it. Not only that, their parents financial situations and the prospects of the future most definitely influences their outlook.

What teenager doesn't talk about or think of their future? The entirety of high school is pretty much about preparing for college, finding a job, etc.

Screen time is a symptom, not a cause. One of the vital drives of adolescents are to gain independence from their parents and figure out their own place in life. To do this, teens need to interact with peers, hang out, make mistakes, and generally be sociable.

Our society, largely, does not allow this. Instead, safety fears, need for cars, etc, keep teens at home. So what else is a teen to do to interact socially with their peers? Online is the least-bad remaining outlet for this desire - if they can't hang out in a parking lot or whatever, at least they can take selfies on instagram or whatever.