The No-Go of the Digital Glow


A 2016 study published in the Journal Pediatrics notes teenage depression was up 37% by 2014 from 2005. Los Angeles United began tracking teenage suicidal behavior in 2010, when they reported 225 incidents. Te number grew to 5,000 in 2015. Tere’s one overarching contributing factor that’s certainly not helping the situation:


SMARTPHONES.


A decade-long rise in teenage life satisfaction and happiness came to an abrupt end in 2012, beginning a steep four-year decline, and psychologists from San Diego State University and the University of Georgia endeavored to find out why. Surveying more than 1.1 million American teenagers, their results pointed to smartphone usage. By 2016, 73% of American teenagers owned a smartphone; and between 1991 and 2016, teens who spent more time on their phones in social media, texting, gaming, and browsing the internet were less happy, less satisfied with their lives, and had lower self-esteem. Conversely, teenagers who spent more time with non-screen activities, like spending in-person time with friends, reading print media, or playing sports and exercising, tended to have higher psychological well-being, happiness, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.


Phone usage itself isn’t to blame: the internet empowers teens to raise awareness, connect with people across the world, and share moments of beauty and learning. However, social media greatly accelerates and amplifies the drama typical of teenage life: where we may have passed a note in first period, it reached its audience by third period, and we got an answer by eighth period, today’s teenagers are posting those messages hundreds of times daily, with layers of added complexity.


Tere is a magic number: less than an hour. Teenagers who had mature, collaborative boundary-setting discussions with their parents and limited their smartphone time to less than an hour a day had the happiest and strongest mental health. As attractions, there’s a lot we can do to support this healthier lifestyle and self-value.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?


We might consider encouraging our guests to “Like, Follow, Subscribe, and Share” a little less, and promote shared, live experiences on our property over augmenting them with smartphones, like scanning QR codes or attraction-specific apps.


As previously noted, teens are eager to learn about themselves and grow. Developing exhibits and programs that encourage a dialogue about managing instant digital communication and the emotions and self-valuation that accompany it could be quite appealing – and impactful – for today’s youth.


Combined with a rise in sleep deprivation, depression and stress are immense emotional and psychological burdens. Instead of striving to dream up the next adrenaline-pounding attraction, destinations may consider developing opportunities for teenagers to relax, destress, and hit the reset button.


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