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Gaming and social media are the symptom, not the cause. The real issue is real life is NOT friendly to teenagers. Theres few activities they can just go off an

Gaming and social media are the symptom, not the cause. The real issue is real life is NOT friendly to teenagers. Theres few activities they can just go off and do on their own. A lot of places ban any unsupervised minors. My son can’t go to the escape room or several movie theaters without an adult. Add to that helicopter parents over protective of kids, and kids reach to spaces they can feel more free: social media, gaming, etc

SunshineTheCat 9mo ago
That is so difficult to imagine. When I was a teen I was almost never home. I was out at the movies, in a forest, out exploring somewhere, with friends, etc. I'm curious largely if many teens these days just don't want to go out or like you mentioned, aren't able to. Maybe it's a combo of both. Just tough for me to imagine being a teen and not wanting to be as far as possible from parents.
- kgwxd 9mo ago
  The negative-attention seeking assholes (often teens) used to only get "attention" from people in the vicinity. Now they can be anywhere, and get a reaction from everyone.
- aaarrm 9mo ago
  Honestly this issue isn't inherent to just teens. I want to do be able to do these sorts of activities as an adult even, but there's nowhere that you're allowed to just be or do anything.
Sharlin 9mo ago
That's a rather US-centric view. Teenagers aren't prisoners in some suburban hellscape in all parts of the world.
- galleywest200 9mo ago
  No but rural isolation is common in almost all countries apart from maybe the extremely tiny ones.
  - Sharlin 9mo ago
    Yes, and that's a problem, but only a fairly small fraction of kids live in rural areas in urbanized countries. Not that we shouldn't care about their well-being, but it's not a general explanation for mental health issues among teens.
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  They're not prisoners to suburban hellscapes in all parts of the US, either.
deleted 9mo ago
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jedberg 9mo ago
A related problem is other parents. Even if you want to let your kid be free, you can't, because nosey neighbors will report you to the police. It happened to us. We let our kids stay in the car, during COVID, while we quickly shopped. After we got home, the cops showed up and told us someone reported us for neglecting our kids. My wife just kept asking "did we do anything illegal?" and finally they admitted that no, we didn't. They just said "it just doesn't look good, with all the crime out there". I said "what crime?". Then they had to admit that crime is way down over the last 30 years, and is especially low in our area. They eventually left, but it has a chilling effect on letting our kids be kids for fear that it will happen again.
- 9991 9mo ago
  You didn't mention the most important variable of the story -- how old the kids are. But I'm guessing over 8, since it wasn't a crine.
drillsteps5 9mo ago
The negative effects of social media on teenagers have been researched and are well documented. I have 2 teenagers and honestly don't even need that, I see it with my own eyes.

SunshineTheCat 9mo ago

That is so difficult to imagine. When I was a teen I was almost never home. I was out at the movies, in a forest, out exploring somewhere, with friends, etc. I'm curious largely if many teens these days just don't want to go out or like you mentioned, aren't able to. Maybe it's a combo of both. Just tough for me to imagine being a teen and not wanting to be as far as possible from parents.

kgwxd 9mo ago
The negative-attention seeking assholes (often teens) used to only get "attention" from people in the vicinity. Now they can be anywhere, and get a reaction from everyone.
aaarrm 9mo ago
Honestly this issue isn't inherent to just teens. I want to do be able to do these sorts of activities as an adult even, but there's nowhere that you're allowed to just be or do anything.

Sharlin 9mo ago

That's a rather US-centric view. Teenagers aren't prisoners in some suburban hellscape in all parts of the world.

galleywest200 9mo ago
No but rural isolation is common in almost all countries apart from maybe the extremely tiny ones.
- Sharlin 9mo ago
  Yes, and that's a problem, but only a fairly small fraction of kids live in rural areas in urbanized countries. Not that we shouldn't care about their well-being, but it's not a general explanation for mental health issues among teens.
Aurornis 9mo ago
They're not prisoners to suburban hellscapes in all parts of the US, either.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

jedberg 9mo ago

A related problem is other parents. Even if you want to let your kid be free, you can't, because nosey neighbors will report you to the police. It happened to us. We let our kids stay in the car, during COVID, while we quickly shopped. After we got home, the cops showed up and told us someone reported us for neglecting our kids. My wife just kept asking "did we do anything illegal?" and finally they admitted that no, we didn't. They just said "it just doesn't look good, with all the crime out there". I said "what crime?". Then they had to admit that crime is way down over the last 30 years, and is especially low in our area. They eventually left, but it has a chilling effect on letting our kids be kids for fear that it will happen again.

9991 9mo ago
You didn't mention the most important variable of the story -- how old the kids are. But I'm guessing over 8, since it wasn't a crine.

drillsteps5 9mo ago

The negative effects of social media on teenagers have been researched and are well documented. I have 2 teenagers and honestly don't even need that, I see it with my own eyes.