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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I work in academia - although at a large school with tens of thousands of students.

The effects of social media that I see are:
Their views are based on quick sound bites and headlines. Most are very poorly informed about the positions they hold or the issues they are arguing for or against. They often aren't even aware of the fuller context of the quip or headline or clip they saw that shaped their view. There is a lot of group think as most who hold similar views access the same social media content and due to algorythms, they aren't exposed to views outside their own in any kind of meaningful way. It is kind of battle of the group think mind based on headlines and sound bites on both sides.

- the online SM cancel culture means that having an unpopular view or being an independent thinker can get your words or video taken out of context as well and spread across platforms and bring a lot of immediate hate your way. Again by those who know nothing other than a 10 second clip. SM brings a lot of social pressure.

The gender identity stuff is primarily the currently acceptable vehicle for the angst and confusion of that developmental stage. In the past it has been punk, grunge, emo, goth, now its non binary or trans. Once you get to college age, it is mostly prevalent in the kids with angst - mental health issues, disadvantaged, social awkwardness / exclusion, kids who have been bullied, don't fit in, not conventionally attractive or mainstream etc.  Kids who are struggling within themselves and with their social environments. Again, there has always been these angsty kids - they just have used different forms of expression over the years. This is currently socially acceptable.

Most young adults in the environment I see are very hard working and we are mostly past the entitled / I am a special snowflake group of the past decade. There are a lot of very smart kids and while yes many are idealistic as they should be in their youth, they are getting things done in life. Still have some overly involved parents and some kids who have very poorly formed independence skills but most are actually pretty good.

Mental health has become a catch all. We really need a stronger focus on prevention and on building mental strength / endurance / fitness and on promoting and maintaining good mental health like we do physical health. Look at the money and time people put into sports, gym memberships, physical activity etc. Now that mental health is recognized as just as  important - we need the same amount of energy and money going into staying mentally healthy and fit. [/quote]

Yes agree - though it is hard to get teens into good mental health care professionals as they are so overbooked and it is hard to get my teen off her phone and exercising …

But as a macro solution - I agree. [/quote]

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