相比前幾代人,今天的青少年得到了更多保護(hù),但也更缺乏獨(dú)立性,而這種轉(zhuǎn)變與2012年左右智能手機(jī)的流行幾乎同時(shí)出現(xiàn)。千禧后一代不再愿意與朋友外出,或者想方設(shè)法擺脫父母,而是喜歡宅在家里,在Snapchat上聊天,這讓他們的幸福感更低。 社會(huì)心理學(xué)家珍·特文格為《大西洋》月刊統(tǒng)計(jì)的數(shù)據(jù)值得警惕。在沒有父母陪同的時(shí)候,與2009年的八年級(jí)學(xué)生相比,今天的12年級(jí)學(xué)生走出家門的時(shí)間更少。2015年,只有56%的高中畢業(yè)班學(xué)生曾經(jīng)約會(huì),而X一代和嬰兒潮一代的這一比例為85%。2000年至2015年期間,每天與朋友在一起的青少年人數(shù)減少了40%。 今天的青少年工作時(shí)間也少于前輩。雖然大衰退對(duì)就業(yè)的影響已經(jīng)消退,但今天的高中畢業(yè)班學(xué)生,只有55%在學(xué)校上學(xué)期間打工,而在上世紀(jì)70年代末,這一比例為77%。另外,他們更少開車,出行主要依靠父母。他們的性生活更少,開始性生活的年齡更晚。 當(dāng)然,許多家長肯定會(huì)長舒一口氣,因?yàn)樗麄兊暮⒆硬辉僭谕饷嫱达嬁駳g,而且這還帶來了青少年懷孕率下降等積極的副作用。但青少年的孤立卻產(chǎn)生了可怕的后果——特文格表示,青少年抑郁率和自殺率之高,意味著Z一代面臨著“數(shù)十年來最為嚴(yán)重的心理健康危機(jī)”。 特文格表示,證明這個(gè)問題與智能手機(jī)的關(guān)系的證據(jù)“再清楚不過”。調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),在社交媒體和其他“屏幕”活動(dòng)上的時(shí)間增多,與幸福感下降和孤獨(dú)感、抑郁程度、自殺風(fēng)險(xiǎn)升高之間,有著密切的關(guān)系。特文格將社交媒體的傷害,歸因于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上所謂的“錯(cuò)失焦慮癥”(FOMO),即擔(dān)心錯(cuò)過其他人似乎都在享受的樂趣。網(wǎng)絡(luò)霸凌也是一個(gè)主要原因。 特文格認(rèn)為,這些后果將對(duì)青少年產(chǎn)生長期的影響。青春期抑郁癥在成年后更有可能復(fù)發(fā),而且隨著年齡的增長,社交技能的培養(yǎng)會(huì)變得越來越難。 幸運(yùn)的是,特文格為此開出的“處方”非常溫和。只要每天將使用電子設(shè)備的時(shí)間控制在兩個(gè)小時(shí)以內(nèi),便可以緩解電子設(shè)備的一些最嚴(yán)重的影響。家長強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行這個(gè)適度的邊界,可以給孩子帶來巨大的幫助。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓 |
Today’s teenagers are more sheltered and less independent than previous generations, and the shifts correspond with the mainstreaming of smartphones around 2012. Instead of going out with friends and looking for every chance to get away from their parents, the post-Millennial generation is staying in and Snapchatting—and it’s making them less happy. The statistics, as outlined by social psychologist Jean Twenge for The Atlantic, are alarming. Today’s twelfth graders spend less time out of the house without their parents than eighth graders did in 2009. Only 56% of high school seniors dated in 2015, compared to 85% for Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. The number of teens who spend daily time with friends dropped by 40% between 2000 and 2015. Today’s teenagers are also working less than their predecessors. The employment effects of the Great Recession have faded, but only 55% of today’s high school seniors have jobs when school is in session, compared to 77% during the late 1970s. They’re driving less, and depending on parents for rides. They’re having less sex, and having it later. Of course, many parents might heave a sigh of relief that their kids aren’t out carousing, and some side-effects, like a drop in teen pregnancies, are positive. But teenagers’ isolation has a dire cost—rates of depression and suicide so high Twenge says members of Generation Z are “on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades.” Twenge says the evidence linking the problem to smartphones “could not be clearer.” Surveys have found that spending more time on social media and other “screen” activities correlates strongly with lower levels of happiness, and higher feelings of loneliness, levels of depression, and risk of suicide. Twenge attributes much of the harm of social media to what the internet knows as “FOMO,” or fear of missing out on the fun everyone else seems to be having. Cyberbullying is also a major culprit. The consequences for these kids, Twenge says, will be long-term. Adolescent depression is more likely to recur in adulthood, and social skills become harder to develop as we age. Luckily, Twenge’s prescription is fairly modest. Some of the worst effects of electronic devices seem to be mitigated when they’re used less than two hours a day. Parents who enforce that moderate boundary might end up helping their kids immensely. |