Many people believe that kids these days are more advanced and they grow up faster than they used to. Reports suggest that kids these days deal with a lot, social media, increased pressure to succeed and over pampering parents. However, is it making them grow up faster or much slower than previous generations?
Kids these days don’t get enough time to be kids anymore. These days kids get access to smartphones at an early age, opening up a world inaccessible to previous generations with unlimited access to news, social media and many more. It is a matter of concern that kids seem to be growing up too quickly, however, facts show they are maturing more slowly. Studies show that teenagers are engaging themselves in adult activities like having sex, drinking alcohol, dating, going out without parents authority and driving faster than previous generations.
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| Source: Askmomparenting |
Exposure to advanced technologies these days is making kids intellectually slow and lonely at the same time.
Jean M. Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University said,
“The development trajectory of adolescence has slowed, with teens growing more slowly than they used to. In terms of adult activities, 18 year olds now look like 15 year olds once did.”
Shelley Pasnik, senior vice president and director of the Center for Children and Technology, a research group based at the Education Development Center, New York stated that it is rather difficult to measure and qualify the idea of ‘growing up’ in today’s kids.
Pasnik said,
“What has changed is kids’ exposure to information. Through video platforms to caregiver phones, social media platforms and interactive speakers with unlimited capacity to push content aimed at adults and viewed over the internet.”
“There is increased exposure to violent or sexual content at a younger age, which causes a desensitisation and normalisation, because children’s brains aren’t fully developed to process this in a way that an adult brain can.”
Here are the five more important concerns about kids today
- They are much anxious and depressed
New data on kids and their school performance show that they are losing ground with academics, they are anxious, bullied and lack coping skills. Anxiety and depression are notably common in teens and children often characterized by social withdrawal, irritability, persistent sadness, and physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches.
Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are rising rapidly among children and adolescents with 10-15% of youth being affected with 20-40% experiencing the symptoms of mental distress. Intense academic pressure, reduced physical activity, higher social media driven uncertainty and excessive screen time are the key drivers of the rising issues in today’s children.
- Lack of skills to work with others
Another concern prevalent in kids is, they lack skills working with others. Reports suggest that only 36% are confident about sharing their issue with others and one third of them need to improve their teamwork skills.
Kids' concerns about relationships are also based on the bullying they experience. Approximately 20% of students aged 12-18 are bullied in school premises in the U.S. with over 30% globally. Common forms of bullying include rumors, verbal harassment and online bullying.
- Lack of sex education
As per some reports many parents do not think sex education is necessary for children in school from a young age. In 2016, the Commission on Youth stated in their survey that 40% of youngsters aged 12-24 lack understanding about sex while 44% do not use birth control with over 40% learning sex through media and pornoraphy.
As of 2023, approximately 13 14% girls and young women were reported giving birth below the age of 18. Adolescent pregnancy is heavily influenced by education with the maximum number of girls with limited schooling.
- Drop in academic performance
New stats related to academics is also a major problem in today’s generation. According to the National Center for Education and Statistics, students have experienced a significant drop in their academic performance with a 5 point drop in reading scores and a 7 point drop in maths in 2022. The drop in the score was mostly prevalent among kids with low performance and among those who attend suburban schools compared to kids attending city schools.
Social media exposure is also increasingly linked with academic decline in kids aged 9-13 affecting their reading capacity and memory. Use of social media more than 3 years daily can lead to 4-5 point drop in performance, due to displacement of study time, lack of attention and reduced focus.
- Exposure to online world
Children these days are increasingly exposed to the online world. They prefer to stay in their room and indulge themselves in games and social media rather than go outside and play with their friends. Reports suggest that school aged kids are spending more than 5 hours and teenagers are spending more than 8 hours online with social media, gaming, or schoolwork.
While the online platforms come with unlimited learning opportunities, this exposure poses significant risks including exposure to inappropriate content, cyber bullying, potential grooming and data privacy breaching. Over 77% of kids aged 9-17 experienced online harm that included bullying that resulted in self harm and depression.
Parental involvement plays a key role in every problem children are facing these days. It is important to implement age appropriate limits like no unsupervised social media content for kids below 12 and monitoring screen time to reduce possible risks.
Utilizing school provided digital safety lessons can be an important step to secure online exposure.
