The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?
www.nature.com
The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
  • Boinkage@lemmy.world
    2·
    9 months ago

    I feel like it’s more likely the dawning realization that the earth may not be suitable for human life in their lifetimes and that the economy and housing market may never support them owning a home or retiring. But yeah surely it’s tik tok’s fault.

    • TORFdot0@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      As a middle schooler I was afraid that Al-Queda would carry out a terrorist attack in my hometown or that Saddam would use his WMDs on the US. In high school, my grandparents got laid off and lost the farm during the great recession. And yet I just had the local news that was telling me the bad news of the day.

      My point being, it can’t be healthy being bombarded with hours and hours of bad news every day doomscrolling as opposed to a 15 minute news broadcast in the evening. Especially for kids who don’t have the perspective and experience to know its gonna be OK.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caEnglish
      02·
      9 months ago

      the e earth may not be suitable for human life in their lifetimes

      Oh come on, that’s a little exaggeration. There is less chance of that now than when we were kids and the USSR was going to blow up the USA and vice versa.

  • SbisasCostlyTurnover@feddit.ukEnglish
    1·
    9 months ago

    I’m sure social media is having an effect on our kids. I’m also sure they’re more tuned into the state of the world than I was when I was a teenager, and they see just how utterly broken everything is.