I like Gen Z! No more of them are ruined or sidetracked by victimhood than those in other generations are felled by stupid things. A certain portion of people are going to get stuck on something, no matter what. That’s life.

The first 45 seconds and sometimes several minutes of many videos are useless. You can see YouTube trying to fix its old content with “suggested clips” but tik tok is better for learning most things. In general the pressure to be fast makes people make better videos.

They’re having a gender revolution I don’t understand and I think it’s great. Of course it’s imperfect. Of course they’ll get big parts wrong. Godspeed, babies. Pull us to the future.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the 1970s and 1980s, as a GenXer, I never feared being gunned down by one of my classmates in my own school.

Fight, GenZ! I am on your side.

Neither did I. However, kids would also drive to school with a gun in the gun rack in their pickup.

That was back when guns were used for hunting/sport, not toxic co-splay gun culture.

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

I think you might be missing the point here. Can you tell us:

- does your 13 year-old actually “see” his friends in person, and spend time in their physical presence, talking or doing other activities?

Or, are the majority of his interactions through social media “friends?”

There is a significant difference.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a boring, played out generational trope. You can find dozens of this article written about millennials ten years ago. Not surprised the boomers are eating it up.

“I didn’t really read it, not am I aware of how toxic social media is, from evidence based on peer reviewed studies, but I can speak confidently out of my rear end. This entire topic is just old people bthcing about young people as has been done for centuries. There is no rise in anxiety among the young because I said said so and like I just want to chill and eat some fast food and like stop writing stuff.”

This is actually quite funny

But we do have to be wary of academia and their never ending studies. They have a study for everything. And only if we listened to all of their studies, our lives would be perfect. There is intense pressure on these people to come up with research that is earth shattering. Then of course we have to accept the results 100% because it is science. And then 10 years later there is a new study that disproves the old study. But it is a lot better than pulling stuff out of butt ha

I disagree. Common sense as well as various peer reviewed studies confirm that many young people are struggling mentally and emotionally since social media has becomes wide spread part of growing up.

I see the differences in my own children - older child young millennial and just escaped the ubiquity of social media while younger DC in HS struggles much more. We were able to control social media before the pandemic but once they were on computer all day for virtual learning, it was extremely difficult to control. Younger DC has so many friends and acquaintances who are struggling also with all the issues the article raised.

The evidence is there. Mental health facilities for teens are full. Wait lists for teen psychiatrists and good therapists are long. Teen Psych units are bustling. Attempted suicides, suicides, self harm, vaping/ substance abuse and eating disorders are way up. The social media poisoning has been especially destructive for girls. So much subtle and non subtle misogyny online. No wonder so many more teen girls want to change genders.

This stuff is real and the shoot the messenger antics represent vapid denialism.

I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

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.

Politically and socially left kid of a professor and I agree with Haidt.

Cell phones and social media for under 16 will be like cigarettes . And the trigger warnings are out of control. Some are good. But like therapy animals, it’s becoming absurd.

Gen Z had some great ideas then went totally overboard with them.

Yes, ultimately if they can’t hack life because they’re so convinced they need a safe space for their anxiety they’ll be open to just giving up, giving in, capitulating to communism or whatever else is just easiest for them. I mean how do we even expand our domestic hard and soft power of kids are just too woke to defend our nation and sort of flop over in a lather of discombobulated internal strife?

NP.

The post above is oddly-phrased word salad.

However, the he part in bold resonates about Gen-Z. And it echoes Haidt’s central theme.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a boring, played out generational trope. You can find dozens of this article written about millennials ten years ago. Not surprised the boomers are eating it up.

“I didn’t really read it, not am I aware of how toxic social media is, from evidence based on peer reviewed studies, but I can speak confidently out of my rear end. This entire topic is just old people bthcing about young people as has been done for centuries. There is no rise in anxiety among the young because I said said so and like I just want to chill and eat some fast food and like stop writing stuff.”

This is actually quite funny

But we do have to be wary of academia and their never ending studies. They have a study for everything. And only if we listened to all of their studies, our lives would be perfect. There is intense pressure on these people to come up with research that is earth shattering. Then of course we have to accept the results 100% because it is science. And then 10 years later there is a new study that disproves the old study. But it is a lot better than pulling stuff out of butt ha

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.

These young women got their rights stripped away and they showed up and fought back. Not victims. I think they intend to fight.

Intend to fight? You mean they are going to vote or hold a sign while standing outside a metro stop in DC? I think we have different definitions of what it means to fight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A new paper talks about the danger of social media for the young. It appears to cause an increase in the sensitivity to peer feedback. No one is sure if that is good or bad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/health/social-media-brain-adolescents.html

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2799812?guestAccessKey=7fedb432-3c46-496d-be6b-e9b7394a71f2

Which explains the increase in social anxiety. It’s so common now, it’s a Gen Z personality trait.

I think we have words for it and diagnose it at a much lower threshold now. I'm millennial and I'm beyond positive I would have been diagnosed with anxiety (general and social). Like, the signs were GLARING. But if it didn't keep you from leaving your house, it wasn't a mental health problem, it was probably just a personality flaw. Millennial with anxiety = "too much of a worrier," "shy," "hormonal," etc.

That said, AOL instant messenger made social drama feel inescapable, but I accessed it on a shared family computer in the living room. I 1000% believe that 24/7 access to social media on phones makes anxiety worse for Gen Z and hope I can put it off for my kids as long as possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a boring, played out generational trope. You can find dozens of this article written about millennials ten years ago. Not surprised the boomers are eating it up.

“I didn’t really read it, not am I aware of how toxic social media is, from evidence based on peer reviewed studies, but I can speak confidently out of my rear end. This entire topic is just old people bthcing about young people as has been done for centuries. There is no rise in anxiety among the young because I said said so and like I just want to chill and eat some fast food and like stop writing stuff.”

This is perfection!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a boring, played out generational trope. You can find dozens of this article written about millennials ten years ago. Not surprised the boomers are eating it up.

“I didn’t really read it, not am I aware of how toxic social media is, from evidence based on peer reviewed studies, but I can speak confidently out of my rear end. This entire topic is just old people bthcing about young people as has been done for centuries. There is no rise in anxiety among the young because I said said so and like I just want to chill and eat some fast food and like stop writing stuff.”

😂 darkly Funny and true

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cohort claiming victimhood, racism, anti-trans bias, speech-as-violence, etc. are meanwhile taking over the institutions of soft power--namely colleges and media companies. White men--the convenient, lazy stand-in for all that is and ever was evil in the world--are dropping out of the workforce and make up smaller and smaller portions of college student bodies. I'm still trying to decide if this is a brilliant, intentional strategy by the woke elite, or just a comedic final act in the decline of the West.

I question this entire premise. White men still hold the levers of power in almost every university and media company, and it is hard to believe that anyone understands otherwise.

Some people don't ever leave the house.

Or learn everything on -- wait for it -- social media.

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.

Politically and socially left kid of a professor and I agree with Haidt.

Cell phones and social media for under 16 will be like cigarettes . And the trigger warnings are out of control. Some are good. But like therapy animals, it’s becoming absurd.

Gen Z had some great ideas then went totally overboard with them.

Yes, ultimately if they can’t hack life because they’re so convinced they need a safe space for their anxiety they’ll be open to just giving up, giving in, capitulating to communism or whatever else is just easiest for them. I mean how do we even expand our domestic hard and soft power of kids are just too woke to defend our nation and sort of flop over in a lather of discombobulated internal strife?

What an odd leap. Are you ok?