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Sunday, August 18th, 2019

We Have Ruined Childhood

Author:     Kim Brooks
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     Aug. 17, 2019
 Link: We Have Ruined Childhood
Stephan:   I have increasingly noticed, and maybe you have as well, that children are very different today. They are uncomfortable outdoors and in the woods, and at a loss when they have no tablet, smartphone, or video game to stare at. Left without electronics they seem unable to create the kind of games and fantasies that were daily activities when I was a boy. And to me they seem depressed and unsure. This article confirms my own experiences, and perhaps yours.

Illustration by: João Fazenda

According to the psychologist Peter Gray, children today are more depressed than they were during the Great Depression and more anxious than they were at the height of the Cold War. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression rose by more than 60 percent among those ages 14 to 17, and 47 percent among those ages 12 to 13. This isn’t just a matter of increased diagnoses. The number of children and teenagers who were seen in emergency rooms with suicidal thoughts or having attempted suicide doubled between 2007 and 2015.

To put it simply, our kids are not O.K.

For a long time, as a mother and as a writer, I searched for a single culprit. Was it the screens? The food? The lack of fresh air and free time, the rise of the overscheduled, overprotected child, the overarching culture […]

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1 Comment

  1. De Henderson on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    My wife works with behavior kids in elementary, and she often talks about how the increase in emotional health issues have increased exponentially – and we live in a fairly good area of Washington. The problem cascades to the healthier kids in that they share that kindergarten classroom – anecdotally, my wife often shares how specialists/teachers are clearing the classrooms to handle kids breaking down, throwing chairs, etc…. And this is only Kindergarten. A culture of anxiety and fear is an understatement – kids are now learning this young. Personally I think the issue is deeper than just electronics.