6 ms·

Children Are Lonelier Than Ever. Can Anything Be Done?

32 points by jseliger 5y ago

oogabooga123 5y ago
Gaslighting. End the lockdowns
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  Loneliness and suicides were problems before lockdowns were a thing
  - oogabooga123 5y ago
    So were coronaviruses
- BadCookie 5y ago
  The article focuses on research done before the pandemic, but mentions that the lockdowns appeared to temporarily increase mental well-being if anything …
criticaltinker 5y ago
The OP cited a study by "Jean Twenge, Jonathan Haidt, and colleagues in the Journal of Adolescence" but the provided link is broken. Here is a working link [1]. This source is one of the highest quality pieces of evidence presented in support of the claim that "children are lonelier than ever". Unfortunately the OP suggested very little in terms of "what can be done", beyond the classic "reduce screen time" recommendation. Excerpts from [1]: > The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey of 15- and 16-year-old students around the world included a 6-item measure of school loneliness in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015, and 2018 (n = 1,049,784, 51% female) across 37 countries. > School loneliness increased 2012–2018 in 36 out of 37 countries. Worldwide, nearly twice as many adolescents in 2018 (vs. 2012) had elevated levels of school loneliness. Increases in loneliness were larger among girls than among boys and in countries with full measurement invariance. In multi-level modeling analyses, school loneliness was high when smartphone access and internet use were high. > School loneliness was positively correlated with negative affect and negatively correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction, suggesting the measure has broad implications for adolescent well-being. > The psychological well-being of adolescents around the world began to decline after 2012, in conjunction with the rise of smartphone access and increased internet use, though causation cannot be proven and more years of data will provide a more complete picture. [1] Worldwide increases in adolescent loneliness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197121000853 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014019712...
cbozeman 5y ago
Jesus... this is almost laughable. Yeah, something can be done. What was done to me as a kid in the 80s and 90s. Kick them out of the house. Tell them to go outside and play with their friends. Stop helicopter parenting them every second of the day, and stop trying to fill their entire waking lives with "enrichment" activities in a bid to get them into an Ivy League school. I work with a young woman who went to Princeton and is a Robotics Deployment Engineer for Amazon, a job you could get having gone to a state cow college. How do I know this? I work for the company that's working with Amazon to deploy their robots. And I went to a state cow college. One of my colleagues didn't even go to college, he picked everything up on his own working at Amazon for two years and watching YouTube videos and reading books. Leave these damn kids alone, take away their damn phones. Let them go outside. Let them get into trouble. Let them walk to the nearest city ballpark and play Home Run Derby like I did, at age 11. I would walk half a mile to my best friend's house, then we'd go walk to our friend's house a mile down the road, over and over, until we had 6-8 of us in a group, then we'd go do stuff. We turned out fine. So will they.
- draygonia 5y ago
  It's not the phones, it's how they're using them. If they used them to look at youtube videos and read books as you did they would probably prepare themselves well enough they could get into that college they want.
- kiba 5y ago
  The problem with that is suburbia doesn't really make it safe to navigate between neighborhoods. If your friend lives in the same neighborhood, it's doable. If your friend lives in a neighborhood across the street, it's kinda doable. However, cars are traveling at the speed up to 40 mph. Can be very dangerous if you're not cautious. I remembered when I was a kid that I nearly died attempting to cross a street and got pulled back by my sister. Hard to free range when everything is hostile to bicycles or walking.
  - jimmygrapes 5y ago
    So teach kids how to cross the street safely. Yes, there is always risk in doing so, just like there's risk in simply existing in a world where Bad Things Happen.
Ancalagon 5y ago
I would argue just about everyone of all ages is lonelier than ever, and not just because of the pandemic.
- FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
  Yeah, this isn't about COVID. It's a deeper issue with The Culture.
  - kar5pt 5y ago
    Yeah COVID just accelerated trends that have been happening since the 60's.
- ozfive 5y ago
  Here here! Seattle has been great for making money and not great for making friends.
- browningstreet 5y ago
  How long ago did “Bowling Alone” come out? I spend my time between the US west coast and certain cities in Europe. I don’t think Americans, as a whole, know how to hang out and talk the way Europeans do. Part of it is our cities… there aren’t real public spaces. Everything’s commercial, or a development. Making plans to meet people involves a singular destination. In Europe I’ll meet friends out, and we’ll have other friends catch up with us over the coarse of an evening, and we’ll move from a cafe to a square to a park, and we’ll have been chatting and it’ll suddenly be 4am. In America it’s very hard to get people to commit to a thing, and that’s usually dinner or a bar.
  - Ancalagon 5y ago
    You’re right this was my experience in Europe as well. I should’ve clarified most people in the US are getting lonelier.
Wehner 5y ago
Thanks for this information !! >> https://www.mybalancenow.onl/ https://www.mybalancenow.onl/
musicale 5y ago
Adults are also lonelier than ever, but this is accepted as a feature of the modern world.

32 points by jseliger 5y ago

oogabooga123 5y ago

Gaslighting. End the lockdowns

jazzyjackson 5y ago
Loneliness and suicides were problems before lockdowns were a thing
- oogabooga123 5y ago
  So were coronaviruses
BadCookie 5y ago
The article focuses on research done before the pandemic, but mentions that the lockdowns appeared to temporarily increase mental well-being if anything …

criticaltinker 5y ago

The OP cited a study by "Jean Twenge, Jonathan Haidt, and colleagues in the Journal of Adolescence" but the provided link is broken. Here is a working link [1]. This source is one of the highest quality pieces of evidence presented in support of the claim that "children are lonelier than ever". Unfortunately the OP suggested very little in terms of "what can be done", beyond the classic "reduce screen time" recommendation. Excerpts from [1]: > The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey of 15- and 16-year-old students around the world included a 6-item measure of school loneliness in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015, and 2018 (n = 1,049,784, 51% female) across 37 countries. > School loneliness increased 2012–2018 in 36 out of 37 countries. Worldwide, nearly twice as many adolescents in 2018 (vs. 2012) had elevated levels of school loneliness. Increases in loneliness were larger among girls than among boys and in countries with full measurement invariance. In multi-level modeling analyses, school loneliness was high when smartphone access and internet use were high. > School loneliness was positively correlated with negative affect and negatively correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction, suggesting the measure has broad implications for adolescent well-being. > The psychological well-being of adolescents around the world began to decline after 2012, in conjunction with the rise of smartphone access and increased internet use, though causation cannot be proven and more years of data will provide a more complete picture. [1] Worldwide increases in adolescent loneliness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197121000853 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014019712...

cbozeman 5y ago

Jesus... this is almost laughable. Yeah, something can be done. What was done to me as a kid in the 80s and 90s. Kick them out of the house. Tell them to go outside and play with their friends. Stop helicopter parenting them every second of the day, and stop trying to fill their entire waking lives with "enrichment" activities in a bid to get them into an Ivy League school. I work with a young woman who went to Princeton and is a Robotics Deployment Engineer for Amazon, a job you could get having gone to a state cow college. How do I know this? I work for the company that's working with Amazon to deploy their robots. And I went to a state cow college. One of my colleagues didn't even go to college, he picked everything up on his own working at Amazon for two years and watching YouTube videos and reading books. Leave these damn kids alone, take away their damn phones. Let them go outside. Let them get into trouble. Let them walk to the nearest city ballpark and play Home Run Derby like I did, at age 11. I would walk half a mile to my best friend's house, then we'd go walk to our friend's house a mile down the road, over and over, until we had 6-8 of us in a group, then we'd go do stuff. We turned out fine. So will they.

draygonia 5y ago
It's not the phones, it's how they're using them. If they used them to look at youtube videos and read books as you did they would probably prepare themselves well enough they could get into that college they want.
kiba 5y ago
The problem with that is suburbia doesn't really make it safe to navigate between neighborhoods. If your friend lives in the same neighborhood, it's doable. If your friend lives in a neighborhood across the street, it's kinda doable. However, cars are traveling at the speed up to 40 mph. Can be very dangerous if you're not cautious. I remembered when I was a kid that I nearly died attempting to cross a street and got pulled back by my sister. Hard to free range when everything is hostile to bicycles or walking.
- jimmygrapes 5y ago
  So teach kids how to cross the street safely. Yes, there is always risk in doing so, just like there's risk in simply existing in a world where Bad Things Happen.

Ancalagon 5y ago

I would argue just about everyone of all ages is lonelier than ever, and not just because of the pandemic.

FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
Yeah, this isn't about COVID. It's a deeper issue with The Culture.
- kar5pt 5y ago
  Yeah COVID just accelerated trends that have been happening since the 60's.
ozfive 5y ago
Here here! Seattle has been great for making money and not great for making friends.
browningstreet 5y ago
How long ago did “Bowling Alone” come out? I spend my time between the US west coast and certain cities in Europe. I don’t think Americans, as a whole, know how to hang out and talk the way Europeans do. Part of it is our cities… there aren’t real public spaces. Everything’s commercial, or a development. Making plans to meet people involves a singular destination. In Europe I’ll meet friends out, and we’ll have other friends catch up with us over the coarse of an evening, and we’ll move from a cafe to a square to a park, and we’ll have been chatting and it’ll suddenly be 4am. In America it’s very hard to get people to commit to a thing, and that’s usually dinner or a bar.
- Ancalagon 5y ago
  You’re right this was my experience in Europe as well. I should’ve clarified most people in the US are getting lonelier.

Wehner 5y ago

Thanks for this information !! >> https://www.mybalancenow.onl/ https://www.mybalancenow.onl/

musicale 5y ago

Adults are also lonelier than ever, but this is accepted as a feature of the modern world.