Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think that?
Because most of us can afford food for our families, even in the last week of the month.
Yeah. I did a decade where that wasn't the case. Poverty is longer and harder in southern states.
The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
281–290 of 565 posts
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#282Social media is global, so any effects it has should be visible globally. > Teenage suicides rates have, on average, declined slightly over the past two decades or so. While in 1990 there were, on average across the OECD, 8.5 suicides per 100 000 teenagers (15-19), by 2015 this rate had fallen to 7.4. Much of this decline occurred during the 2000s. Between 1990 and 1999 the OECD average teenage suicide remained fairl…
> Social media is global, so any effects it has should be visible globally. That isn't true at all. There may be a hundred factors at play, which are all different in different cultures, regions, countries, etc. The cultural context of an individual can dramatically change how they react to situations, pressures, and mental illness.
Do schools in other countries let kids—elementary school and up—take smartphones to school and (due to inability to harshly police it because of reluctance to take phones, since it pisses off parents) use them quite a bit in class? I was shocked to find out that's a widespread policy/practice in the US, these days, and I'd be surprised if other countries are following us off that particular very-stupid cliff.
What's the median age of first smartphone for kids coming up in other OECD states?
Social media has a much smaller effect if you have to go to the family computer to use it, or whatever, than if you've got it in your pocket all day and are checking it constantly when the teacher's not looking....
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re going to get a bias in here because a lot of folks are STEM focused / high achieving high anxiety types :)
I guarantee most of these "high achieving high anxiety types" live with significantly less anxiety than customer service reps/bag handlers/food service workers.
Nurses. Lots of people around here would be in tears after attempting that job for a day.
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#284While I don't doubt that social media can drive some of these mental health issues, I think most teenagers are simply stressed from the constant work that's necessary for the college admissions process. I'm 24, so I would have been a teenager in 2012, but I didn't have a smartphone until I was 16 or so. My high school experience consisted almost entirely of school, studying, and running (my primary extracurricular).…
> give teenagers a chance to actually live life
You'd have to do it worldwide, though. Part of the reason my own teenage years were so (relatively) peaceful is because they took place in the late 80's, before globalization. I empathize with my own kids who've been on this treadmill since kindergarten, but it's there because they're competing with kids from countries that have never had childhoods.
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#285While I don't doubt that social media can drive some of these mental health issues, I think most teenagers are simply stressed from the constant work that's necessary for the college admissions process. I'm 24, so I would have been a teenager in 2012, but I didn't have a smartphone until I was 16 or so. My high school experience consisted almost entirely of school, studying, and running (my primary extracurricular).…
You're in a bubble. It's nowhere near that hard to get into non-elite universities, which the vast majority of college-bound students attend. Just keeping your grades up and doing well on a standardized test will get you into a good (well-regarded in at least some fields, very well-known at least regionally) state school—and the ones in the next couple tiers under that are even more lax. Then there are community coll…
> You're in a bubble
Yeah that seems evident from the breadth of replies I've gotten. Perhaps it's just one factor among many.
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#286Having exited my teen years just before the smartphones became ubiquitous in the US, I got the opportunity to watch externally how social media and other similar systems effected the day-to-day of my younger siblings through their teen years. It was not positive. Maybe someone younger can attest to my observations: - more localized isolation as kids spent a higher % of their attention in internet communities - less c…
> It was not positive.
Can you elaborate? I only ever see children like 9-14 happy doing the latest Instagram or TikTok dance craze in the park/at the mall/with groups of their friends.
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#287One of the core dilemmas of raising the next generation: 1. We base much of our own sense of self-worth on difficulties we have overcome and our ability to take care of others. 2. We fairly extend that same metric to others and judge others by the difficulties they've overcome and what they do for others. 3. Therefore, the better we are at living up to our own values and improving the lives of the next generation, th…
> wanting to tune out of the horror show that is the world by staring at their phone.
Yikes—dead wrong way to do it. About the only other way to get 1/10 as much exposure to the "horror show" would be cable news.
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re going to get a bias in here because a lot of folks are STEM focused / high achieving high anxiety types :)
I guarantee most of these "high achieving high anxiety types" live with significantly less anxiety than customer service reps/bag handlers/food service workers.
As someone who got started as a bag handler at Winn Dixie, I can tell you I'm a lot more stressed out now managing a career than I ever was working a "job."
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#289While I don't doubt that social media can drive some of these mental health issues, I think most teenagers are simply stressed from the constant work that's necessary for the college admissions process. I'm 24, so I would have been a teenager in 2012, but I didn't have a smartphone until I was 16 or so. My high school experience consisted almost entirely of school, studying, and running (my primary extracurricular).…
You're in a bubble. It's nowhere near that hard to get into non-elite universities, which the vast majority of college-bound students attend. Just keeping your grades up and doing well on a standardized test will get you into a good (well-regarded in at least some fields, very well-known at least regionally) state school—and the ones in the next couple tiers under that are even more lax. Then there are community coll…
Im an immigrant that attended a community college, transferred to a “top 10 CS Uni”.
the CC didn’t even acknowledge the school I went to exists so i just took some placement tests that landed me at Calc 1 etc
most americans dont know how good they have it, sure things could be better but you’re literally better off than most of the world no matter what class you’re born in here
Re: The teen mental illness epidemic began around 2012
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, you got me. A lack of socialized everything that started in 2012 is the cause of the teen mental illness epidemic. Get out and vote everyone!!!
[flagged]
OP is sarcastically pointing out that since the US has never had socialized health care, that cannot be the explanation for a sudden uptick in mental health issues circa 2012.