A Digital Era
By: Madison Shaw
Madison is a Prevention Specialist and Case Manager with the Human Service Agency. Have you heard of the up and coming book titled “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt? This book emphasizes, “the great rewiring of childhood” with the target group being Generation Z (people born after 1995). However, the information applies to all of us living in the digital age.
It is no secret that we are in a mental health crisis. This has been the discussion for years and we often hear that the COVID-19 pandemic is the “culprit” of this crisis. This book shares with us that this ‘crisis’ has been a developing issue long before 2020 that the pandemic “outed” and forced us to see mental health through a different lens. The author points out that when we really started to see a decline in the mental health of young people was around 2010.
Can you guess what invention came about in 2010? That is right, the glorious smartphone. Many young people get their first smartphone before entering middle school and have the internet readily available at all times. This includes access to social media and other apps.
The book points out that phone addiction is real, a drug that many of us need to have in our sights at all times. If you think about it, we’ve probably all heard the excuse, “Well, that is how I communicate with my friends and family” or “This is how I get my news on what is going on in the world” or even “I need social media for work.” In reality, how much of our time is spent doing those things? For many of us, including myself, we scroll through reels, getting that quick hit of dopamine on a 30 second video because the algorithm knows exactly how to suck us in.
So, what is the actual harm in “doom scrolling” through social media and spending countless hours on a device? Well, like the title of this book, it has increased anxiousness and depression in adolescents that can carry into adulthood. It keeps us from staying present, moving forward, and diminishes our social interactions.
It is easy to point out all the harmful effects and say why it is not good, but it is not as easy to come up with solutions that combat a society that has become completely reliant upon technology and social media. One of the key ideas that this book brings up as a solution is bringing in “loose” objects to playgrounds where adolescents can be creative and build something out of different kinds of materials. If you look at a playground now, they are structured and offer little to no opportunities for creative play. Think of children
who would rather play with a big cardboard box instead of the toy that came in it. The cardboard box offers them the opportunity of an “alternate reality,” whereas toys typically have one specific goal of use.
This really only scratches the surface of this book, but I would highly encourage you to take a look at this book so you can be proactive and work towards solutions that have played a role in the decline to our mental health. You can check out a copy from the SD Prevention Resource Center Libby App.
For more information or to check out a copy of this book, contact the NE Prevention Resource Center at the Human Service Agency at (605) 884-3516 or visit
www.humanserviceagency.org/NEPrevention. To stay informed, follow us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/NEPRC.HSA or Twitter
www.twitter.com/NE_Prevention.