Insert Socrates quote here. What adults think they understand about current trends in teenage culture were laughably wrong when I was a teenager, and there's no reason to think the trend has changed.
Usually I'd agree, and happily ignore this new moral panic the way I've ignored all the others that, as predicted, eventually fizzled out into irrelevance.
It's possible that this time it's different. We mark the adoption of movable type as a watershed in Western civilization, in the sense that it changed how people relate to their churches and their governments as well as how they experienced science, art, and culture. The Internet is a far bigger deal than movable type was. Anyone who says they know exactly what its effects will be on teenagers or on any other demographic or institution is blowing smoke.
I'd normally agree, but in this case I think a lot of us in the older generations are realising we're also being affected. I certainly am, it's not just the teenagers.
And this was exactly what the older generation was saying when I was a teenager. There's always a special pleading as to why this time for this issue it's definitely different.
You're implying that this all makes it automatically wrong, but social changes are a real thing, some positive, some negative. The Socrates quote is cute but only goes so far.
In this case, in my life I have concrete examples of the jealously and FOMO invoked by social media (in this case, old school Instagram) from what people are doing literally on the other side of the world. That's a significant change and was much more difficult and far less in real-time in the past. It's not great for my mental health.
My point is that it’s not all kids. I’m also not Socrates shaking my fist at kids being slovenly and disrespectful; I like teenagers and enjoy their passions and interests. I actually enjoy their stupid little dances and social media silliness.
That said, the issue is the all encompassing nature of it. Always on. Less time interacting with peers. Less time in extended thought. Less time even with their own thoughts.
I’ve taught high schoolers in the countryside, the city and the fancy suburbs both pre and post smartphone. The transition feels rapid and noticeable.
