I attended an interview with Nancy Jo Sales about her book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, at the 2016 Woodstock Writers' Festival. Her research, based on conversations with over 200 teen girls from across the country representing all different demographics, painted a very disturbing picture of the world our teenage girls are living in:
- Over 70% of teens have smart phones which means they have access to the internet which in turn means they have easy access to pornography.
As this young girl spoke with such certainty of her point of view, my heart hurt and was saddened and I was scared for her and this generation. As you will see, I hold a very strong opinion myself on the matter. But, what I would really like to come of this is not to make each other wrong, but rather to find a way to truly hear each other's concerns and evolve a cooperative response to this situation.
Here are my specific concerns:
- With an under-developed prefrontal cortex, a teenager's decision-making is less likely to successfully weigh outcomes, form judgments and control impulses and emotions. At the same time, they have a fairly well-developed nucleus accumbens (the area of the brain that seeks pleasure and reward). Throw in hormones and we have the perfect recipe for immediate gratification, thrill seeking, and impulse behaviors far outweighing careful consideration of potential consequences. As a result, teens are more susceptible to becoming addicted to nicotine, drugs, and cellphone use and engaging in rebellious and risky behaviors.
the time and mental focus of teens and subjecting them to risky, competitive behaviors:
--the popularity of social media among teens
--the normalization of Smart phone usage
--the easy exposure to pornography
--the influence of the Kardashian concept of female beauty<
-- the trend to up the ante and push the boundaries of sex and violence in visual media.
Where do we go from here? How can we, as a society, help these children? I welcome your thoughts on this.
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If you would like to suggest a topic for a future blog or ask me to address a particular situation or issue, please email me at judithjohnson@hvc.rr.com