Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by tasspeed on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @01:53PM
(#34712865)
I only avoided suicide because of social media. I had no way to hang out with friends because my parents were always too busy working to take me places so I talked with my online friends to numb the pain.
Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by PantaloonFlames on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @02:30PM
(#34713544)
It's sad that you depended on your parents for transport to your friends. Ideally a teenager would be able to walk or ride a bicycle to hang out with peers. Or take a bus. Did you live in a place where homes were very far apart?
Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by candiodari on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @05:29PM
(#34716432)
Societal acceptance of such dangerous activity has been dropping lately:
https://reason.com/2023/01/30/dunkin-donuts-parents-arrested...
Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by lovecg on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @06:57PM
(#34717581)
That’s got to be an outlier? Small remote town + over aggressive cops with nothing better to do. This same exact story comes up in these conversations repeatedly. One would think that if there was an epidemic of parents being arrested we would hear more about it.
Around where I live (suburban though not as remote as the place in the article) I see groups of kids by themselves all the time. Older than age 9, but still.
Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by lmm on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @08:11PM
(#34718338)
It's an outlier but it's the leading edge of the Overton windowframe. The age at which it's acceptable to be out by yourself gets older every year.
Re:The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
by candiodari on Thursday February 09, 2023 @12:32PM
(#34727677)
There's a LOT of different organisations that all had to contribute to create a result this bad. Cops, yes, but that's just step 1. Social workers, of at least 2 different organisations. The justice system, including prosecutors and judges ... because if they wouldn't back the social workers there's nothing they could have done.
... which adds up to a lot of people that could have stopped this if they wanted to. NONE of them did.
It's no wonder stress levels are peaking. We demand they carry immense burdens the second they're able to hold a full conversation, but without any of the freedoms associated with responsibility. Can't move out, can't afford help, so what do we really expect to happen when people are placed into such conditions?
We place them under constant pressure, and act surprised that this pressure hurts. Why can't you be more like your sister who's doing good in school? Look at your cousin he got a job already and he's only 16. When you turn 18 you need to have your act together because I'm kicking you out. Endless pressure because we are unable to process our own feelings of insignificance, we just project it on kids all without the help of social media.
The rising wealth inquality amplifies these problems more in every way.
Social media gets a lot of negative attention but there's also a huge positive here. You can connect with others who get you and can maybe help you get through those unbearable days - they make it feel tolerable. And so for people to pin the blame entirely on social media, we're just going to cause so much more harm when we realize how many teens are out there that are only avoiding suicide marginally because of social media.