The kids are not all right
And it’s not (just) because of social media
For the first time in, well, ever, the United States was not in the top 20 list of the world’s happiest countries according to the World Happiness Report. This can be chalked up to the under-30 population according to the most recent survey. (The World Happiness Report has only been around since 2012.)
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are dragging us down, I guess. A lot of people in the traditional media seem to want to point toward social media — comparison being the thief of joy and all — but I suspect it’s not that simple, and we older generations are just looking for a scapegoat.
I think I know some of the real culprits, and Imma tell ya about them.
The COVID-19 pandemic
Not to point out the obvious here, but we did have a giant, world-wide pandemic in 2020. That happiness dropped significantly in younger generations in the wake of that doesn’t seem at all surprising. The pandemic touched all of us, and hit children significantly hard. The pandemic itself was an isolating event; some children only had contact with peers because of social media for months.
According to a National Institutes of Health report in October 2021, nearly 140,000 children lost a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID-19, and that number has only grown. COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and it’s still killing people.
From April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, data suggest that more than 140,000 children under age 18 in the United States lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent caregiver who provided the child’s home and basic needs, including love, security, and daily care. Overall, the study shows that approximately 1 out of 500 children in the United States has experienced COVID-19-associated orphanhood or death of a grandparent caregiver. There were racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in COVID-19-associated death of caregivers: children of racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 65% of those who lost a primary caregiver due to the pandemic.
Lack of political leadership
The presidency of Donald Trump was a chaotic, scandal-filled four years, culminating in 1) the pandemic and 2) a violent assault on the nation’s capital in an attempt to prevent the transfer of power. Now in 2024, we are facing another election where the choices are two old white guys, the same two old white guys who were the main players last go-round. And despite Biden’s hard work, the fact of the matter is that he lost a shit ton of credit with Gen Z by supporting Israel’s war with Hamas. The kids are pissed.
But it’s not just TFG and Biden failing via Israel. Children are still being slaughtered by guns at galling rates — gun violence is the number one killer of kids in the United States. The world is hot, and getting hotter; climate change doesn’t provide a rosy picture of the future, near or distant. (More like a burning orange glow, with low air quality and deadly weather events to boot.) And for young girls and women, the lack of bodily autonomy via abortion bans and crappy healthcare has to be making them feel like second-class citizens. They make me feel that way, and I’m frickin’ 53.
Attack on LGBTQ+ youth
On top of every thing else, LGBTQ+ youth have been targeted by laws aimed at banning books, limiting or eliminating sex ed, and restricting gender-affirming care. In 2023 alone, 22 states passed laws that ban gender-affirming care for trans people under 18. Tennessee even passed a law that allows parents who “don’t believe” in being gay or trans to adopt gay or trans children. That will end well, I’m sure.
Does social media make children unhappy? Sure, it does. Heck, social media has a negative impact on adults’ mental health as well. But it’s not the only reason children aren’t feeling cheerful. It’s up to us, the adults in the world, to help and protect these kids, and we are failing.
Instead of looking at kids’ phones, look in the mirror.
