Twenge Jean: Internet generacija

Jean Twenge: The Internet Generation

Child Disorientation in the Digital Age

Around 2012, the share of Americans who owned smartphones exceeded 50%. Then Dr. Jean Twenge, professor of psychology, after several years of researching American youth, noticed sudden changes in the behavior and emotional state of teenagers at that time in all aspects of life. This was her alarm for serious research of the generation born between 1995 and 2012, which she called the Internet generation - the iGen generation. This is the first generation that does not know the world and life without the Internet, they were formed by smartphones and social networks, and they are the generation that replaced the real world with a digital one! (They were preceded by the generation of millennials born between 1980 and 1994). And change is both good and bad ....

Serious research has shown that the iGen generation is not ready for adulthood, they are not interested in early independence - they want to stay in their parents' house as long as possible, overprotected and spoiled by a longer childhood; they are physically safer because they are mostly in their room, with a phone, uninterested in going out and partying, or even sex (as evidenced by the lower number of underage pregnancies), passing the driving test (they don't want to take responsibility) and are less prone to alcohol (which is good news!). In a word - today's 18-year-olds are sometimes like 15-year-olds, and 15-year-olds are sometimes like today's 13-year-olds - which means that their emotional and social development slows down by three years!

Another novelty is that the iGen-generation also wants and expects psychological safety (for example, safe rooms in universities that they can retreat to whenever they feel mentally injured in any way!). Research shows that they are prone to depression and that the number of suicides among them increases drastically after 2011, which indicates a serious crisis in their mental health. Smartphones allow them to socialize without having to leave their room. The phone, loneliness, poor communication with parents, little sleep actually make them unhappy, desperate, lonely, shy and depressed. Watching small screens prolonged their childhood and isolated them from real human interaction - they get to know emotions through emoticons, they rarely notice them on real human faces.

Not everything is so black - members of the iGen generation are tolerant, have a new awareness of equality, mental health and the rights of the LGBT population, are practical in nature with innate caution and have healthy foundations on which success is based, their career is important, they want it quickly and want to influence things. The I-generation will soon be dominant among young businessmen as well - are companies ready to accept their tastes that will shape the market, are we all ready to accept their political preferences that will shape elections and legislation...

The I-generation has replaced the real world with a digital one and Jean Twenge sees here the greatest danger, but also the responsibility of parents, teachers, educators and everyone who would have to intervene and try to set digital boundaries that will bring them back to the real world and life. If they have the strength to throw away their phones and shake off all fears - they will succeed. However, understanding the i-generation means understanding the future - all of us.

WHAT WHEN CHILDREN EXCHANGE THE REAL WORLD FOR A VIRTUAL ONE?

    How did the Internet or the i-generation come about?

    What slows down the social and emotional development of young people?

    Why have "smartphones" changed the world of young people so much?

    How does virtual connectivity destroy emotional connection in the real world? life?

    Digital disorientation: loneliness, insecurity, shame, anxiety, depression ...

    What parents can and must do?

IN A FAST CHANGING WORLD, PARENTS MUST LEARN FASTER

In the new book Twenge-ij ea analyzes the phenomenon of childhood permeated by the influence of the Internet, which affects all aspects of the lives of modern children - from social relationships to mental health - showing that they are both the physically safest and mentally most vulnerable generation, terribly unprepared for adulthood.