The Pew Research Center released
results from a survey in December
revealing that roughly half of all teenagers now say that they use the internet “almost constantly” — a number that has nearly doubled since 2014. The other half said they use the internet at least several times per day. Only 6% of teenagers use the
internet
“about once a day” or “several times per week.”
Given the ubiquity of WiFi and the proliferation of smartphones with advanced computing capability, it’s easy to forget that this online lifestyle is an unprecedented social experiment. Human civilization is roughly 6,000 years old, and there is no historical analogue for mass disembodiment. We have no clue what this dependence on technology means or how it ends.
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But we are beginning to understand the impact of this lifestyle on childhood and adolescent development. Generation Z, or those born after 1996, is the first generation in history to come of age in a world that features constant internet use. With the rise of smartphones beginning in the 2010s (two-thirds of teenagers owned one by 2015) and social media as the primary venue for teenage interaction, adolescent mood disorders have spiked dramatically, along with increased instances of self-harm and
suicide
.
Some, such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, continue to insist that
social media usage has mental health benefits
. However, research conducted by psychologist Jean Twenge has discovered that adolescents who frequently use social media are depressed at twice the rate of their counterparts and that
suicide risk among adolescents spikes in correlation with the number of hours spent on electronic devices
per day.
Social media appears to have a particularly troubling effect on young girls since girls are generally more likely than boys to engage in the “compare and despair” mentality that runs rampant on apps such as Instagram. The level of reported depression
among girls
soars beyond that of boys in relation to the number of hours spent on social media.
In the face of this harrowing data, it is remarkable how precious little cultural oxygen is spent sounding the alarm, let alone seeking solutions. The mental health crisis facing our nation’s youth is without precedent and shows no sign of abating. Its omission from the national discussion about mass shootings, for example, speaks both to the superficiality of that discussion and our general unwillingness to curb the “almost constant” internet lifestyle.
As Gen Z begins to assert itself in the workforce and, presumably, start families, we will discover whether or not the negative side effects of “almost constant” internet use are confined to mood disorders. We do not yet understand the implications in other aspects of life.
Social psychologist and bestselling author Jonathan Haidt has been on a mission to address the tech-related mental health crisis among teenagers. In light of the data, he believes that social media platforms should be
held legally responsible
for enforcing their stated minimum age requirements of 13 years old. Yuval Levin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the minimum age requirement
should be raised to
18 years old. Both suggestions should be taken seriously. After all, social media has proven to be at least as detrimental to teenage health as cigarettes.
A recent New York Times feature offers another sign of hope: the emergence of
a teenage-led “Luddite Club”
in
New York City
that is redefining what it means to be a teenage rebel. This group meets regularly to unplug in each other’s company, read great novels, and sketch drawings. They have little tolerance for “no-shows” and other forms of tech-induced flakiness. They conveniently “lose” their smartphones in order to shed the constant surveillance of their parents.
“I still long to have no phone at all,” one of the club members said. “My parents are so addicted.”
It’s about time somebody said so.
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Peter Laffin is a writer in New England. Follow him on Twitter at @Laffin_Out_Loud.
