“I Am Often Bored,” Teens Say
What? According to a 2019 study, teen boredom levels started steadily increasing in 2010. Yahoo Life reports adolescent boredom reached a peak during the pandemic in 2021, ebbing in 2022 and then rising again in 2023.
So What? Research suggests that social media is part (but not all) of the problem. When teens are bored, they naturally reach for their phones. But according to Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, teens reach a “tipping point” where scrolling through social media goes from being “relaxing or entertaining to being numbing, boring or … just kind of icky.”
Now What? The problem isn’t boredom itself but rather the “intolerance” of being bored. Cutting back on screentime can help curb that constant need for a dopamine fix (which social media and smartphones provide). However, experts also suggest embracing the boredom. “Boredom is the seed of creativity,” says Kent Toussaint, founder and clinical director at Teen Therapy Center. So when our kids are bored, rather than immediately giving them an activity to do, we should let their minds wander so they can come up with ideas on their own, developing a better sense of self and resilience to boredom.
Early Exposure to Violent Content Leads to Antisocial Teen Boys
What? A new study has found that young children “are attracted to fast-paced, stimulating violent content, which often features appealing characters like superheroes who commit and are rewarded for aggressive acts.”
So What? In a follow-up with children who were exposed to this sort of content between the ages of 3 and 4, researchers found that 11 years later, the now-teenage boys exhibited antisocial and aggressive behaviors more frequently. (Girls were unaffected.)
Now What? For years, violent video games, certain genres of music and even gory horror flicks have been implicated in why teenagers—particularly teen boys—sometimes behave aggressively. However, this latest study suggests that the problems begin much sooner, and in ways that we likely believed were harmless at the time. Superhero flicks are often justified because they show the good guys beating the bad guys. But for younger children, exposure to any kind of violence could have greater repercussions as they enter adolescence.
Gen Z Wants to Be Safe, Not Popular
What? A recent survey found that Gen Zers (those ages 10 to 24) prioritize safety over other traditional teenage aspirations, such as being popular.
So What? According to StudyFinds, “Adolescents are more likely to overestimate risks and struggle to put threats in context.” And this can make them more vulnerable to fear-driven messaging prevalent in social media and even traditional forms of entertainment (as well as the news).
Now What? As parents, it’s part of our job to keep our children safe. But it’s also important to instill our kids with confidence and teach them to be brave. While it’s a good thing that teens want to be safe more than they want to be popular, we also want to make sure they aren’t debilitated by that fear and anxiety.
