The Stressed New Generation

THE STRESSED NEW GENERATION OF THE 21ST CENTURY
..OR ONLY THE FEARS OF ELDERS?

By Thomas Pany

[This article published in the German-English cyber journal Telepolis is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, http://www.telepolis.de/r4/artikel/23/23558/1.html.]



In what world are our children growing up? This question that usually implies a rather anxious, pessimistic answer is a classic among culture-pessimists, educators and parents. It was raised again last week by a kind of urgent reminder (1) signed by 110 teachers, psychologists, respected personalities and prominent authors in England who wanted to call attention to a blind spot in public perception: to “escalating incidences” of depressions in childhood, increasing developmental- and behavioral disturbances and cognitive deficits in children. As a cause, they cite the effects of ever-faster technological and cultural change.

A public debate about the conditions in which children grow up in the 21st century is necessary and crucial for the policy of the next decades, the authors say. The newspapers gladly pick up the ball and give the discussion a sensational spin: “Is Junk culture poisoning our children?” the Telegraph asked (2) in the middle of the week.

The letter writers used the keyword “junk culture” in a passage of the text. Elementary basic needs of adolescents are no longer adequately fulfilled:

“real food (unlike industrially manufactured junk food), real games (unlike the entertainment on the screen consumed while sitting), immediate direct experiences of the world in which they live and regular interactions with adults that have a meaning in their real life.”

The open letter by Sue Palmer, a former teacher and author of the book “Toxic Childhood,” was circulated. She quotes investigations whose results may amaze those who stress how “far” children are nowadays at an early age. Tests of the cognitive abilities of 11-year olds in King’s College in London showed that children “are between two and three years behind persons of the same age 15 years ago.”

In the opinion of the authors, society spends great effect at protecting children from physical injuries but has lost sight of their emotional and social needs. With the letter, an urgently necessary public debate could be initiated on raising children in the 21st century. This theme should be central for developing public policy of the next decades, the letter concludes.

While journalists and readers reacted quickly, many would not join the charges of the worried advocates for children. Earlier generations were confronted with similar problems:

“Junk food, marketing and electronic entertainment…is the good substance in life, not the bad! The only bad element on the list, as far as I can see, is the excessive competition in education. But haven’t children always said we have too many exams and tests?”

“I believe adults have fear of the world in which we grow up because they don’t know how to deal with that world. It is our “tool.” We understand it as essential for our life. Our parents will never completely master this and as a result are anxious. Many are not brave enough to attempt it. They are old-fashioned and don’t want to risk learning how to use this stuff.”
- reader’s letter (3) of a 12-year old

This is not the only letter of a young person that does not follow unquestioningly the diagnosis of professors, psychologists and educators. In addition, some journalists (4) focus their attention on the phenomenon suggested in the above reader’s letter: “The world that Pullmann, Wilson et.al. condemn is a world as it always was with fears in childhood… The traps are now different. They look very frightening for those over 50 because there is a new communication system (of the new generation) that most elders can no longer grasp.”

A journalist of the Guardian also presumes that one’s own fears and problems are hidden in the fears that authors identify in children. “What is wrong in today’s children is part of what is wrong in the life of today’s adults.” While it may be true that little time is left for children, this suffering also affects the life of adults themselves. The debate is necessary and goes beyond childhood.

This debate must not only concentrate on certain fields. Children who live in a somewhat secure milieu speak self-confidently about the new tools and conditions in the world, at least less anxiously than the experts’ diagnosis may suggest. This could block perception of the real blind spot: the circumstances of children growing up in the lower end of society who have fewer resources for the harsher competition and hardly good prospects.
Links
(1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/12/njunk112.xml
(2) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/12/njunk12.xml
(3) http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1523332.ece
(4) http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1523332.ece
(5) http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1871309,00.html
Telepolis Artikel-URL: http://www.telepolis.de/r4/artikel/23/23558/1.html