Word of the Day
Fracas (n., FRAK-azz)
A noisy quarrel or fight, as seen on every male-skewing cable channel.
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NewsIntense windSTOPHolly EllenbogenOccupational hazardIn the name of love?
Link of the Day
Smartphones' effect on an upcoming generation
Last week, while we were posting our photo galleries, The Atlantic posted a thought-provoking article about smartphones' effect on the generation after Millenials, noting the new trends:
To those of us who fondly recall a more analog adolescence, this may seem foreign and troubling. The aim of generational study, however, is not to succumb to nostalgia for the way things used to be; it’s to understand how they are now. Some generational changes are positive, some are negative, and many are both. More comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party, today’s teens are physically safer than teens have ever been. They’re markedly less likely to get into a car accident and, having less of a taste for alcohol than their predecessors, are less susceptible to drinking’s attendant ills.
Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.
Even when a seismic event—a war, a technological leap, a free concert in the mud—plays an outsize role in shaping a group of young people, no single factor ever defines a generation. Parenting styles continue to change, as do school curricula and culture, and these things matter. But the twin rise of the smartphone and social media has caused an earthquake of a magnitude we’ve not seen in a very long time, if ever. There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.
You can read the whole article over at The Atlantic.
WritingThe AtlanticSmartphonesMental HealthGenerationsSmart phones, stupid results?