The Machines Killing Our Kids
Jean Twenge | Verity Firth
Between 2011 and 2019, depression rates doubled for U.S. teens, and feelings of loneliness and psychological distress soared among Australian young people, particularly teen girls and young women. Even more troubling, suicide rates among young women have surged across the Anglosphere. These terrible outcomes are now shared by teens across English-speaking countries, irrespective of personal identity or background – with those born after 1995 being much more likely to experience mental-health issues than their millennial predecessors.
According to psychologist Jean Twenge, of all the possible causes of this tragic development, one stands out: the rise of the smartphone and associated social media apps. For some, these have become ‘killing machines’. So, why are they not controlled to the same degree as other deadly risks?
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Jean Twenge
Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 180 scientific publications and seven books, including Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future and iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from the University of Michigan. She writes the Generation Tech substack.
Verity Firth
Professor the Hon. Verity Firth AM is the Vice-President Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at the UNSW Sydney and a member of the University’s Leadership Team. She has over 20 years’ experience at the very highest levels of government and education sectors in Australia.
Prof. Firth has spent her career championing the importance of education and women's rights in enabling progress for all. She was NSW Minister for Education and Training from 2008 – 2011, where she focused on equity in education, and how to best address educational disadvantage in low socio-economic communities, including rural and remote Indigenous communities. As NSW Minister for Women from 2007 – 2009, Prof. Firth implemented sector wide strategies to improve women’s recruitment, development and employment in the NSW public sector, and delivered the NSW Government’s first Domestic Violence Strategy.