Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

The Atlantic posted this article under the above headline. My answer: No. (I think I may have snorted as well.)

The article is lengthy, but it presents statistics and research suggesting the generation of current teenagers (referred to as iGen) have been made unhappy, socially inept, and unprepared for the real world by smart phones and social media. It's a slightly more nuanced take than that summation, but, to me, the tone felt accusatory, as if teenagers have both had this thrusted upon them by an ill-intentioned society but are simultaneously culpable for their own demise by refusing to put down their phones and go play outside.

I'm not sure the author, Jean Twenge, is making an argument in the article, rather presenting stats and analysis, which I appreciate, because I feel I've read far too many thinkpieces on how millenials have killed the housing industry and the napkin industry and all sorts of products that have died at the hands of tech-obsessed millenials. So this was at least refreshing in its original assertion that as a researcher, Twenge is interested in what the smartphone and social media obsessesion means for iGen and beyond, rather than how/why they have brought this upon themselves. But I also found it too narrowly scoped to really capture the whole issue at hand (which is perhaps impossible to capture).

One of Twenge's main points is that social media and smartphones have made iGen the most depressed generation in the modern era and have literally caused an unprecedented generational shift in behaviors and attitudes, such as iGen is dating less, socializing in person less, and is reportedly less happy. (A depressing statistic is quoted mentioned that iGen is the first generation where the teen suicide rate is higher than the teen homicide rate [depressing from all angles]). 

It's fascinating read if you have a spare 15 minutes. And I'm certainly not arguing about the change in behaviors and obsession teens (and most humans) have with their smartphones and social media, but I balk at the phrase 'destroyed a generation.' The article also mentions teens are the most tolerant and aware generation, which is surely a positive. 

Twenge presents many points that are alarming, as mentioned above. And I have seen firsthand how my teenage sister is hurt when friends post on instagram without tagging her or some such petty behavior. And I understand that constant smartphone use means that pettiness has a longer life cycle than perhaps it did in my parents' generation. But there's very little accounting in the article for the good that social media has done and for the progress technology and smartphones have created. 

While I think there are certainly problems - especially mental-health geared - that need to be addressed, I also think there are a myriad of pros that come along with the technological increases. I think the sooner we address the concerns while also asserting that smartphones aren't going anywhere (and stop demonizing the technology/usage), the more productive we will be and the more solutions we will find. Twenge mentions parents cutting off/limiting smartphone and social media usage, and while, in some cases, that might be a necessity, surely there is a more efficient way to address the issue. Twenge mentions that smartphone use is an addiction for many in iGen, and if so, quitting cold turkey rarely paves the way to success.