(NewsNation) — Every generation believes the one after it has gone soft, but recent data shows that many children born to millennial parents are, in fact, struggling to navigate everyday tasks.
Referred to as “Generation Alpha,” encompassing individuals younger than 14, they represent the forefront of a progressive cultural shift. A recent article in the LA Times characterizes them with terms such as “feral,” “illiterate,” and “doomed.”
Robert Pondiscio, a former fifth-grade teacher in the South Bronx in New York City, who has studied screen time effects on children, said “Gen Alpha” faces a multitude of challenges. These include growing up with ubiquitous phones and iPads and suffering education setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They are growing up in front of screens. They’ve never known a day in their life where they didn’t have a phone in their hand. Their education has been disrupted,” Pondiscio said in a Monday interview on NewsNation’s “On Balance.” “I’ve got some sympathy for this generation; they’re facing a lot of tough times.”
Mental health data illustrates the extent of the crisis. Depression and anxiety rates jumped 50% among youth from 2010-2019, even before COVID-19 hit. The suicide rate for kids aged 10-14 tripled from 2007 to 2021, with a 19% rise in high school girls considering suicide over the past decade.
Pondiscio attributes some of the difficulties to modern parenting approaches focused on shielding children, rather than building resilience.
“We think it’s a mark of our sophistication,” he said. “I wonder if what we’re doing instead is creating almost a sense of learned helplessness.”
However, in today’s world, Pondiscio suggested that adults may be inadvertently transferring their anxieties onto children, leading to a sense of learned helplessness. He questioned whether the current climate of fear and uncertainty is conducive to healthy childhood development.
The decline of stabilizing institutions such as two-parent households and membership in religious congregations may compound the issue, Pondiscio argues, depriving kids of vital support systems during turbulent times.
“Children who have mediating institutions — family, friends, church, social connections — are simply more resilient,” he said.