Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#761

Post by sigspec » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:02 PM UTC

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #517

germinalphrase wrote: post #22

My entirely anecdotal impression as a high school teacher is that media (in general, often but not always “social” media) is doing an exceptional job of sucking up teenagers’ every waking moment that is not actively demanded to be focused on something else. It’s pleasure without joy. Ennui without boredom. Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many…

And as a parent I just feel powerless to stop it. A battle just to get modest parental controls on my teen's phone. Serious mental health issues that blow up into full blown crisis explosion when we try to put our foot down about doing homework or some other task. And they're nearing the age at which it starts to be downright creepy to have controls on their personal devices, but they need it more than ever. And in s…

My kids are younger but I'm having issues with them and YouTube. I have YouTube completely blocked on their personal device, but I can't do anything about their school issued Chromebook. In the end I have to completely block the school laptops from the internet at home, otherwise they go from a video about reptiles quickly into toy unboxing, fail video reactions, etc. In the end I have to continuously block and unblock websites and devices so they can do their homework. It's maddening, especially since there is so much educational material on YouTube. It's a losing battle.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#762

Post by 30944836 » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:02 PM UTC

chimen wrote: post #465

Ofc it is plummeting. We are letting them install apps that have people behind them with the sole job of making them more addictive. We are handing them drugs, multiple variants if I may say so. I had to fight with my daughter for TikTok and whatnot, she is only allowed with YouTube due to school/tutorials/classes etc and I still find myself pretty often having to snap her out of shorts and other bs with an algorithm…

>They don't even look if the drivers saw them, they all have a phone in hand.

And the driver's do too! It's insane. I live in a moderately-sized city (~1m people) and I've learned to keep my phone in my pocket or not bring it at all, and to definitely take out headphones when I cross the street. I've still been almost hit, many many times, and I'm not even jaywalking. I literally wait for the white walking person to show before I step off the curb.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#763

Post by ThalesX » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:04 PM UTC

standardUser wrote: post #679

carlgreene wrote: post #649

Teens are being told the world is terrible by pessimists when there truly hasn’t been a better time to be alive. How do you expect them to feel? This is amplified on social media and shown with "proof" from all corners of the world. We've evolved from a place where hearing about bad news from the tribe was an advantage. It allowed us to adjust our life to take into account risks _seen_ by other folks in the tribe. On…

Boomers wrecked the world and young people know they need to fix it. Sorry it can't just all be sunshine and roses like you prefer, but women in this country are about to lose a fundamental human right, so maybe "looking on the bright side" is not the appropriate disposition for these times.

Boomers wrecked the world, Millenials are wrecking minds, I'm sure Gen Z will find plenty left to wreck. Thankfully, each generation also builds.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#764

Post by brimble » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:06 PM UTC

sigspec wrote: post #718

I have an 11 and 9 year old. They don't have phones. They do have devices, mostly for Minecraft. They are restricted with parental controls and time limits. They do not have unrestrained internet access and YouTube is completely blocked. As a parent I find myself frustrated at the filtering options and conflicted by my close-fistedness. They moan every day that they are the only one in their class that doesn't have a…

> Am I wrong? Am I just creating an environment of anxiety?

No. Parenting and schools have gone completely to hell. You're not wrong, everyone else is. I still can't believe schools started letting kids carry their cell phones with them to class all day. As early as elementary school. WTF.

For my part, I figure my kids can have an unrestricted cell phone (and so, unrestricted Internet) as soon as they can pay for the device and plan on their own. If they can hold down a job to cover the bill, they can probably handle it. Fuck giving 8-year-olds personal smartphones. Or even 12-year-olds. That's insane.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#765

Post by marcosdumay » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:08 PM UTC

indymike wrote: post #481

Unpopular opinion: Social media is a great scapegoat, but it is not the source of the problem. It is where they go to communicate and cope. My sole qualification to post this: I have four kids that are either teens or in their early 20s, and one who will be a teen next year. Here is what I see out there: 1. Kids have little or no slack in their schedule. This means very little freedom, and very little time to work th…

About your #2, adults always lied about everything. School staff doubly so. And about your second #3, do you think it's more because of the media (including social one) or is it actually more? (Either one is a problem, but those are different problems.)

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#766

Post by aaronax » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:08 PM UTC

randomdata wrote: post #638

ejb999 wrote: post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>try reselling your degree. Why would you sell your degree? >>The data says otherwise No it doesn't - stop making stuff up but it sounds like in your case, you are not well suited for college - you should buy a car instead. Uber is always looking for drivers.

> Why would you sell your degree? The same reason you would sell your car: To try and recoup the cost that you sunk into it, to repurpose and hopefully find productive use for the capital. The trouble you will run into with the degree, with it quickly depreciating to having no remaining value as soon as you drive it off the lot, is that nobody will want to buy it from you. The car will retain at least some value with…

You sell your degree by selling your time for a higher rate, because it is generally more useful than the time that the less-educated would be selling.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#767

Post by jimmyjazz14 » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

sigspec wrote: post #718

I have an 11 and 9 year old. They don't have phones. They do have devices, mostly for Minecraft. They are restricted with parental controls and time limits. They do not have unrestrained internet access and YouTube is completely blocked. As a parent I find myself frustrated at the filtering options and conflicted by my close-fistedness. They moan every day that they are the only one in their class that doesn't have a…

I completely agree but it seems like the rest of the world including my kids school makes this work hard. You are smart to keep the Youtube pandoras box from opening.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#768

Post by WHA8m » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

drewcon wrote: post #728

standardUser wrote: post #679

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boomers wrecked the world and young people know they need to fix it. Sorry it can't just all be sunshine and roses like you prefer, but women in this country are about to lose a fundamental human right, so maybe "looking on the bright side" is not the appropriate disposition for these times.

This is a non data based take. Support with information.

Climate change, increased Cost of living, etc. - Do you really need data for this? About the abortion thing, just visit the page of a random media outlet. It will be among the first 10 articles.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#769

Post by carlgreene » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:11 PM UTC

eldaisfish wrote: post #691

carlgreene wrote: post #649

Teens are being told the world is terrible by pessimists when there truly hasn’t been a better time to be alive. How do you expect them to feel? This is amplified on social media and shown with "proof" from all corners of the world. We've evolved from a place where hearing about bad news from the tribe was an advantage. It allowed us to adjust our life to take into account risks _seen_ by other folks in the tribe. On…

this ignores the harsh realities for life as a young person in the west. Sure, they are not scrounging for food nor is there widespread famine but politics is increasingly polarised. There is a climate problem looming and the youngest will deal with it, western citizens or otherwise. Economies are tanking, job markets are topsy turvy not to mention the real estate problem in a lot of western countries. These problems…

Of course there are challenges and problems. There always will be. The important thing is to teach the youth and give them confidence that they can solve these problems instead "hand-wave" them away in a negative way as pessimists tend to do.

There will always be trials and tribulations. The ones that solve those are the ones that truly believe they can. The more blind optimism we instill in folks the more confidence they will have to try and tackle the seemingly impossible (they never are) problems.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#770

Post by trasz » Thu, May 05, 2022, 4:11 PM UTC

indymike wrote: post #481

Unpopular opinion: Social media is a great scapegoat, but it is not the source of the problem. It is where they go to communicate and cope. My sole qualification to post this: I have four kids that are either teens or in their early 20s, and one who will be a teen next year. Here is what I see out there: 1. Kids have little or no slack in their schedule. This means very little freedom, and very little time to work th…

Tolerance doesn’t mean tolerance towards everything. Some ideas - like flat earthism - are just stupid, but other - like Christian fundamentalism, the associated ideas about woman being not quite human (ie calling for abortion ban) are not only stupid, they are dangerous to society.