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Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

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Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#441

Post by mindslight »

taeric wrote: post #432
mindslight wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with where you're coming from, but would point out that the commercial-surveillance Web is more of a managed experience than the free range one we experienced on the early Internet. So Internet time is likely more akin to dropping your kids off at the mall rather than letting them roam in the woods. If they've got the interest and aptitude to actually dig into computers and how they work (not just programming…

I think that same argument can be made for a lot of the commercial-surveillance that happens in stores and such now. The idea that you can hang out behind the store without being seen is... probably not entirely accurate nowadays. To be sure, they are different.

Sure, things have changed across the board to pervasive surveillance. But if you're hanging out behind a store, it's not like the security guard will come and try to convince you to go shopping in the store instead. Whereas online there is an ever-present siren song to skip doing your own thing and play with the dopamine-hole entertainment options instead.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#442

Post by ido »

watwut wrote: post #426
ido wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have 6 year old in Germany today or are you talking about your own childhood? My 6 year old went to school on his own a few times and he was the only kid in his class to do so. He now no longer does as the teacher scared my wife into thinking it's dangerous to have him cross the street on his own (it's a small street and the entire way is 5 minutes walk). I talked with my wife and we do want him to start going…

I have friends and relatives in Germany and in Switzerland. This was standard and recommended by school in Germany. In Switzerland, going alone started even sooner - at 5. But, the school was assigned in such a way that kid did not had to cross bigger road, kids had reflexive vests and there is regular back to school campaign targetted at drivers with "inexperienced kids on road" message.

From my experience this is not common today in Berlin (although I know it used to when we were kids).

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#443

Post by syzarian »

giantg2 wrote: post #422
syzarian wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural areas are not typical in terms of where most kids live and grow up. Explaining how things are in rural parts of the country is not a valid counter point. In large parts of the country walking has more or less become criminalized and discouraged. I’m talking about areas where a large percentage of people live. We have also criminalized giving kids autonomy. https://www.texaspolicy.com/lets-not-criminalize-parent…

I'm not talking about truly rural areas. I'm talking about suburbs and developments where a significant number of children live. Living in town is in fact suburban or even urban depending on the density. Honestly the walking thing is BS. CA was the last hold out. I believe all states now take the reasonable approach of it only being a crime if you impede traffic, or if you choose to walk in the stret when there is a…

The walking “thing” as you put it was clearly not read by you. I think the author of the paper knows more about it than you. If you think walking isn’t criminalized in America then go out for a walk in an affluent white neighborhood with 4 black teenage boys and experience it for yourself.

We can believe the children of the nation lack imagination or that society has evolved in such a way that discourages walking and free roaming. One of these two seems to me to be a more reasonable explanation for the dearth of children walking in America’s populated areas.

Next time it’s best not to use rural when you don’t mean rural. I go by what people write.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#444

Post by doublepg23 »

twayt wrote: post #140
doublepg23 wrote: post #128

Kind of surprised I don't see 20-somethings commenting. mid-20-something here AMA

What’s the single biggest problem you’re facing today that has a huge impact on your mental health?

Job prospects. I've been lucky enough that my passion for technology has paid off but that took nearly a decade of grinding in retail.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#445

Post by doublepg23 »

dopeboy wrote: post #339
doublepg23 wrote: post #128

Kind of surprised I don't see 20-somethings commenting. mid-20-something here AMA

How would you describe your mental health? How would you describe, on aggregate, the mental health of your peers? If you could waive your magic wand to help your generation, what one thing would you ask for?

I don't feel like I'm representative of the mental health challenges of my generation (early Zoomers). I've been having psychiatric help since I was 9yo and it took until early adolescence that I would say I made true progress, it was a very long and challenging road but paid off in the end.

I'd honestly say my peers (i.e. my direct friend group) deal with mental health challenges extremely well and we are extremely open to talking about our struggles. Social media amplifies the loudest voices but I would argue on aggregate Zoomers are better off mentally than a lot of prior generations. Mental health struggles happened in every generation, these young adults are just more willing to talk about it.

I wrote about it above, but clearer job prospects and more reasonable housing option as they are big stresses. I'm lucky enough to be gainfully employed, but many of my friends have been stuck in dead-end jobs with no prospects. Another concerning trend in that vein is all of my friends, including me, have taken extended leaves from the job market at one point in time.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#446

Post by pitsnatch »

bostonwalker wrote: post #90

> Clinical psychologist Camilo Ortiz, a professor at Long Island University-Post, began noticing a few years ago that some of his young patients, mostly children being treated for anxiety, would “fold very quickly” at the first sign of adversity This is a perfect description of someone I met recently on a road trip with friends. From our first encounter he came off as feeling miserable and sorry for himself. He didn’…

Another personal anecdote, this person sounds like an extreme case to me. No one I know around that age is that bad.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#447

Post by [deleted] »

odessacubbage wrote: post #434
lotsofpulp wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever we want to describe it as, the point is there are a decent number of kids that live in places with roads like these.

i feel like must be where part of the disconnect lies because despite my personal antipathy towards suburban living, pretty much every one i've visited has had superb infrastructure for walking and biking.

[deleted]

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#448

Post by mkl »

hxugufjfjf wrote: post #424
mkl wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And "it's" instead of "its", "you're" and "they're" instead of "your" and "their", "weary" instead of "wary". Lots more people seem to be making these same mistakes.

"try and think" "would of" "could of" - english native speakers 2022

Well, "try and" has been valid English for centuries [1], and "would of" and "could of" are not recent problems.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/were-going-to-...

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#449

Post by mharig »

this_user wrote: post #125
OJFord wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yet they also expect children to live away from home fairly early for college Except American children away from home 'for college' are still exactly 'children', home with different parents. The culture of halls and canteens and the way it's funded is much more 'provided for you' than 'you're providing for yourself now'. I don't get the sense (from NA undergrads I've known, film, etc.) that much learning to cook go…

As a European, US colleges/universities seem more like boarding schools. Here, no university would think that they have any business interfering with students' personal lives or anything they do outside a lecture hall, because they are considered adults. More broadly speaking, there seems to be a tendency in current US culture of infantilising young adults. I have repeatedly seen people in their early 20s referred to…

You're right, but all the industrialized countries are similar. Too many laws, nanny states.

Children have to explore their environment and learn from their experiences to grow up. If you leash them, you steel of them their childhood and adulthood, and because the cage is build of laws that mostly count for all, you steel of the few that could grow up normal their adulthood, too.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#450

Post by taeric »

mindslight wrote: post #441
taeric wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that same argument can be made for a lot of the commercial-surveillance that happens in stores and such now. The idea that you can hang out behind the store without being seen is... probably not entirely accurate nowadays. To be sure, they are different.

Sure, things have changed across the board to pervasive surveillance. But if you're hanging out behind a store, it's not like the security guard will come and try to convince you to go shopping in the store instead. Whereas online there is an ever-present siren song to skip doing your own thing and play with the dopamine-hole entertainment options instead.

I mean, maybe? I suspect you aren't from a dangerous town/city where getting recruited outside a shop is a thing. :)
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