Gen Z has been warped by social media and victimhood culture: Jonathan haidt

[Anonymous]

I didn’t read it but DH did and Haidt apparently said that haidt thinks that it should be illegal for kids under 16 to have social media.

I cannot take Haidt seriously since he said that college students are babies because a few college students wanted an absurd level of trigger warnings, but I’d love it if we could somehow stop kids under 16 from having social media. A broken clock is right twice a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked his moral foundations theory, but also know that WSJ skews right in its option section. Either way, this is paywalled, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-national-crisis-of-generation-z-jonathan-haidt-social-media-performance-anxiety-fragility-gap-childhood-11672401345 but you get the idea. Gen Z has been weakened by social media and endless victimhood culture and I think this is true. There are big ramifications for capitalism in time.

This relates to my other thread about young adults today expecting an apology from their parents and their parents wanting a thank you.

I would say that complaining about a coddled generation is a bit of a trope. I would also say that conservatives tend to be world champions in terms of embracing a victimhood culture/mindset.

I'm not sure that he is entirely blaming Gen Z. His point, which is a good one, is that this generation lacks a foundation of experiences from which they could develop resilience, some of which is due to a culture that prioritizes safety over what in the past were normal childhood experiences. He blames much of this on phones, but the pandemic certainly didn't help. His points about victimhood culture have some merit too. As we move to a more understanding and inclusive society, there has to be room to make mistakes and to be forgiven.

over a million of them may have lost family members due to covid like mine did and have to manage that loss and move on. many gen z have in fact had plenty of opportunity to learn some resilience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t read it but DH did and Haidt apparently said that haidt thinks that it should be illegal for kids under 16 to have social media.

I cannot take Haidt seriously since he said that college students are babies because a few college students wanted an absurd level of trigger warnings, but I’d love it if we could somehow stop kids under 16 from having social media. A broken clock is right twice a day.

Have you been on the parenting forums lately? I'm not on any social media (does DCUM count?) and I'll discourage my kids from getting on as long as I can, but huge swaths of good parents are allowing their 11/12/13 year olds on social media for various reasons. It's not like driving a car. Parents should make this decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with haidt. Young please seem to wear their mental health on their sleeves today and they don’t or can’t accept jagged discourse freely. I also see a lot of examples of skillful harnessing of the power of victimhood. Essentially so whatever it takes for ends to justify means. Whether it’s trying to essentially make obese or overweight people a protected class and endlessly ”calling out” fat shaming as an epidemic plague. When in actually there is no such thing as “healthy” at any size. Social media and victim culture are truly eroding the ability for young folks to respond to adversity.

I have no idea what 'jagged discourse' is but, based on your post, I suspect it's you (and those like you) getting called out for your disparaging, judgmental language. I, for one, am glad to see Gen Z stand up and push back. I'm glad to see them discuss their mental health challenges and share when they're struggling. I appreciate they're working to de-stigmatize it - not as victims or excuses but explanations and awareness. It's not as if mental illness is new or less prevalent. It's in recognition that keeping it darkness is needlessly isolating and makes it worse.

I appreciate Gen Zs embracing diversity - whether that is obese people, LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC, etc. They certainly have shown they aren't going to lie down the way previous generations have and just suck it up because that's the way it's always been. I've seen no evidence they are less resilient - just the opposite. Gun violence has affected them in a way no other generation has been affected. They're also not going to sit down and shut up while their body autonomy is stripped away.

~57 yo white woman from the rural midwest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t read it but DH did and Haidt apparently said that haidt thinks that it should be illegal for kids under 16 to have social media.

I cannot take Haidt seriously since he said that college students are babies because a few college students wanted an absurd level of trigger warnings, but I’d love it if we could somehow stop kids under 16 from having social media. A broken clock is right twice a day.

Have you been on the parenting forums lately? I'm not on any social media (does DCUM count?) and I'll discourage my kids from getting on as long as I can, but huge swaths of good parents are allowing their 11/12/13 year olds on social media for various reasons. It's not like driving a car. Parents should make this decision.

Yeah I know parents are allowing it and it’s troubling for many reasons. I don’t think I want to allow it at 16 but I know it will get harder and harder. I guess I’m not great at this myself because I do allow Discord, but I don’t think it has as many negative impacts as other socials. The things that concern me most are attention spans, body image issues, and right-wing propaganda aimed at young boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t read it but DH did and Haidt apparently said that haidt thinks that it should be illegal for kids under 16 to have social media.

I cannot take Haidt seriously since he said that college students are babies because a few college students wanted an absurd level of trigger warnings, but I’d love it if we could somehow stop kids under 16 from having social media. A broken clock is right twice a day.

Have you been on the parenting forums lately? I'm not on any social media (does DCUM count?) and I'll discourage my kids from getting on as long as I can, but huge swaths of good parents are allowing their 11/12/13 year olds on social media for various reasons. It's not like driving a car. Parents should make this decision.

Yeah I know parents are allowing it and it’s troubling for many reasons. I don’t think I want to allow it at 16 but I know it will get harder and harder. I guess I’m not great at this myself because I do allow Discord, but I don’t think it has as many negative impacts as other socials. The things that concern me most are attention spans, body image issues, and right-wing propaganda aimed at young boys.

Don,t you teach them to investigate where the information they consume is originating? teach them this lesson again and again/

[Anonymous]

Gen Z has few good adult role models in the public sphere, at school, and potentially at home as well. They see a bunch of adults acting catty, narcissistic, angry, impulsive, vengeful, etc. I can see where it would be depressing and anxiety-producing to be around, and it would leave you with a huge void inside wondering where you fit in as a young person who finds it all distasteful. Also, parents are way too up in their kid's business. Teens and young adults are being micromanaged to such an extent that they lack confidence, self-direction, and cannot make decisions on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gen Z has few good adult role models in the public sphere, at school, and potentially at home as well. They see a bunch of adults acting catty, narcissistic, angry, impulsive, vengeful, etc. I can see where it would be depressing and anxiety-producing to be around, and it would leave you with a huge void inside wondering where you fit in as a young person who finds it all distasteful. Also, parents are way too up in their kid's business. Teens and young adults are being micromanaged to such an extent that they lack confidence, self-direction, and cannot make decisions on their own.

These are 2 separate things though related. Each succeeding generation after the Millennials will be targeted (commercially, socially, politically, etc.) with an even tighter noose than the generation before it. Social media is just the tool. Gathers data, disseminates info/misinfo.

Parents feel this and want to help. This results in the micromanage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with haidt. Young please seem to wear their mental health on their sleeves today and they don’t or can’t accept jagged discourse freely. I also see a lot of examples of skillful harnessing of the power of victimhood. Essentially so whatever it takes for ends to justify means. Whether it’s trying to essentially make obese or overweight people a protected class and endlessly ”calling out” fat shaming as an epidemic plague. When in actually there is no such thing as “healthy” at any size. Social media and victim culture are truly eroding the ability for young folks to respond to adversity.

I have no idea what 'jagged discourse' is but, based on your post, I suspect it's you (and those like you) getting called out for your disparaging, judgmental language. I, for one, am glad to see Gen Z stand up and push back. I'm glad to see them discuss their mental health challenges and share when they're struggling. I appreciate they're working to de-stigmatize it - not as victims or excuses but explanations and awareness. It's not as if mental illness is new or less prevalent. It's in recognition that keeping it darkness is needlessly isolating and makes it worse.

I appreciate Gen Zs embracing diversity - whether that is obese people, LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC, etc. They certainly have shown they aren't going to lie down the way previous generations have and just suck it up because that's the way it's always been. I've seen no evidence they are less resilient - just the opposite. Gun violence has affected them in a way no other generation has been affected. They're also not going to sit down and shut up while their body autonomy is stripped away.

~57 yo white woman from the rural midwest

+1

The PP you were responding to seems like way more of a whiny victim than any Gen Z folks I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same stuff they said about TV when we were growing up. Yawn on the mansplaining.

TV?

OMG are you old. And clueless.

[Anonymous]

I can appreciate the thought behind not allowing SM until age 16+, but it seems like most of the people wanting any kind of attention, whether positive or negative, on TikTok are age 16+ anyway. It’s hard, especially for girls and young women. It seems like a lot of boys and young men opt out of a lot of social media, or just consume SOME stuff, but not as much as girls and what they consume isn’t as broadly harmful as long as they’re kept away from the far right stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same stuff they said about TV when we were growing up. Yawn on the mansplaining.

TV?

OMG are you old. And clueless.

LOL I am 45 and I have Gen Z kids. What are your credentials?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wah! Wah!
Right wing grievance against GenZ continues.

I’m a lefty and it sounds like I’d agree with at least some of what the Haidt is saying.

[Anonymous]

Oh how I love privileged white men whining about how everyone else is doing it wrong. Poor baby Haidt.

[Anonymous]

I’m have a hard time taking seriously any generalization of Gen Z as adults since a significant portion of Gen Z is still in elementary/middle school.