Charlotte Purkiss ‘29
Staff Writer
We live in a time where technology is present in our everyday lives. But the ramifications of it are all still unfolding. Parents often blame our generation’s faults on our phones. And as I have gotten older, I have grown to understand that it really has been the phone all along. Our phones – especially social media – have changed how we interact with each other and how we view ourselves. This curiosity led me to a conversation with my parents where they recommended the book “The Anxious Generation” by Jonatahan Haidt. At first I was hesitant to read this because it felt like a personal attack on me – which only shows how aware we all are of our bad habits.
The book starts off with a hypothetical scenario where kids are sent to Mars, it is unsure if these children will make it back and it is a fact that if they go to Mars it will have lasting negative effects on their bodies, but they can agree without parental consent. This introduces us to the idea of dangers in the online world where with one click of a button you can be any age you want to be or even anyone you want to be. But as Jonathana Haidt begins to talk about the dangers and lasting consequences that phones can have on pre pubescent minds, I begin to relate, and I am almost ashamed to say it. I feel as though social media has had a permanent impact on my life since I first got it and this book makes me feel slightly understood. Although some of my problems have not come from phones or social media, most of them have. Social media has done nothing but show me the darkest side of humans. I see it now that I have deleted social media, and I fear that most people won’t see it until they do the same. The decline in mental health in teenagers since 2010, is not just linked to social media, it is directly correlated with it. You can even see it when looking around school, a lot of kids are sad, anxious, and lonely. Jonathan Haidt touches on how the majority of students in schools all around the world – except Asia – report feeling lonely at school. Even with the ban on phones at school, I feel as though the use of phones and social media is out of balance, and it is affecting our generation even when we aren’t directly on our phones.
My fear is that we will never be rid of it and one day it will be proven that our excessive use of technology is going to really harm us all. Although most people are aware of the radiation coming from all our devices, it is hard to disconnect from technology as much as we would like to. We need it for school, work, cars and for most of the things we do. I hope that one day we can all collectively turn away from technology and live like other generations used to.
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