Kids These Days
This article explores the conflicting perspectives on whether modern childhood is better or worse than in previous decades. It contrasts the decline in physical dangers and increased social connectivity against rising rates of anxiety, depression, and digital isolation.
Why it matters
It highlights a critical societal debate regarding the impact of technology and modern parenting on the mental health and development of the 'anxious generation'.
From Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation Kids these days have it great. Compared with decades ago, young children benefit from more time with their parents and much more time with their fathers. Teenagers drink less, smoke less, and are less likely to die in car accidents. Life is much better for racial and sexual minorities—when I was in high school, someone rumored to be gay would be bullied savagely.
Children and adolescents are less likely to experience physical and sexual violence, and less likely to be murdered. They have access to cheap travel, better food, more information of all sorts, and limitless entertainment. And the internet offers an escape from solitude for those rejected in the real world, allowing weirdos, nerds, and the painfully shy to make social connections in ways that would have been impossible for their counterparts in earlier decades. There is no better time to be young.
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