Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was a famous American psychologist who is most well known for developing a theory of human wellbeing based on the notion that all people have a hierarchy of needs.
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This past fall, I volunteered as a cabin leader for a middle school retreat with my church. I was assigned a cabin of 8th grade girls. During the weekend, one topic of conversation kept coming up during our cabin discussion time: what it looks like to share their faith with their friends and peers. They would ask, “We know we are supposed to talk about Jesus, but how?”
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Over the last decade, anxiety has overtaken depression as the most common reason college students seek counseling services. In its annual survey of students, the American College Health Association found a significant increase — to 62 percent in 2016 from 50 percent in 2011 — of undergraduates reporting “overwhelming anxiety” in the previous year.
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If you like scientific studies, you’ll want to pay for access to this paper by Jean M. Twenge and Heejung Park, “The Decline in Adult Activities Among U.S. Adolescents, 1976–2016.” Or, you could read this summary from Business Insider.
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Just about everyone has one in their pocket: a smartphone.
While churches have taken steps to make their sanctuaries gun-free zones, they are not threat free. My iPhone 6 is a two and half by five and half inch rectangle of circuits, metal, and glass that can access a sea of information in an instant.
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Social media networking can’t replace the connections and spiritual growth that our culture provides, but it can, and does, accentuate it. As conversations about politics, social justice, religion, sports, entertainment, and the mundane continue to grow online, every outward detail of our lives can find a place in social networking.
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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg knows that his social network is an avenue for human connection. He also knows that traditional means of social capital are on the decline, which means more fragmentation and weaker communities. Facebook has surpassed 2 billion online users worldwide, and Zuckerberg believes his platform can be a solution to our trend of coming apart.
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We have just passed high school graduation season, and several young friends of mine have now doffed cap and gown and processed to “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Graduation parties have also taken place. While attending a celebration for a former student, Oliver and I discussed Snapchat. Very casually, this eighteen-year-old told me, “Yea, I don’t even really check Snapchat anymore.” I wondered why, so he enlightened me.
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The summer job isn’t as cool as it used to be.
The Atlantic recently reported that the rate at which teenagers obtain employment has been steadily decreasing for decades. Why? Have opportunities decreased as the economy has changed? Are Overwatch and Mass Effect consuming all of their time? What is generation Z up to when school is out?
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Technology is not neutral. Neither are its effects wholly positive. For younger generations, social media can take a negative toll on mental health.
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