Over the years I have never spent as much time talking about “next steps” in school so soon AFTER graduations – from all grades. I do not mind discussing planning as long as it’s kept in check knowing that this IS Summer Break.
With that said, this week’s column was supposed to be about the lost art of chillin’ and rechargin’ over summer. But rather than asking them to pay attention to the conversations at hand, I was asking them to put their phones down, turn their phones off and put their phones away – including the parents!
Anyone who knows me and reads my columns know that I’m having a real hard time with how tech – phones in particular – are changing kids, tweens, teenagers and yes – adults. I tell kids not to waste their time telling me how each generation had their “vice” which always angered their parents. This IS different because tech has flat out changed human behavior and the beauty of “the relationship.” (Much more about this in a future column before students head back to school and teachers get to battle tech distraction/rudeness on an everyday basis.)
I have watched over the years and discussed with parents how tech (social media, video games and smartphones) has seriously impacted their socializing, interaction and ability to have REAL relationships; not those brokered through a tech device.
So many “basic human relationships” are no longer basic. The social meaning of connecting has taken on a completely different place with this generation. Even the tried and true “party” has changed. They clearly have become less popular in their basic form.
Why are parties less popular? There is Netflix so you can watch series nonstop. There are so many things to do on the web, with the web, and because of the web.” With so much entertainment at home, why party? There are so many other ways to connect and communicate, including the millions of social media websites they spend so much time on. Good news – The party is constant, and it’s on Snapchat for everyone to see in real time!
Sadly enough, the number of teens who get together with their friends every day has been cut in half in just fifteen years, with especially steep declines recently.
Again, not surprising since they are spending less time interacting with their peers face-to-face than any previous generation—it’s not just parties or craziness but merely getting together with friends and spending time hanging out.
That’s something nearly everyone does: nerds and jocks, introverted teens and extroverted ones, poor kids and rich kids, C students and A students, not clean-cut and clean-cut kids. It doesn’t have to involve spending money or going someplace cool—it’s just being with your friends. And teens are doing it much less.
Looking at current college students allows presumptions to be made about their in-person social interaction during middle and high school. College students in 2016 (vs. the late 1980s) spent four fewer hours a week socializing with their friends and three fewer hours a week partying—so seven hours a week less on in-person social interaction.
That means they saw their friends in person an hour less a day. An hour a day less spent with friends is an hour a day less spent building social skills, negotiating relationships, and navigating emotions.
Some parents might see it as an hour a day saved for more productive activities, but the time has not been replaced with homework; it’s been replaced with the (still going strong) global sensation Fortnite, Instagram and Snapchat. And when they want to keep up with famous people, news and world stuff – there’s always Twitter. If you wish to verify these popular apps, just ask your kids – but first ask them to put down their phones and just ask again and again until they do so.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Marketing. He can be reached at 305-788-4105 or via email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
