“The text suggests that the whole generation of post-Millennials is at risk of ____________ extreme emotional disturbanc...

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Jean M. Twenge

More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials, also called iGeners or iGens, are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they are on the brink of a mental-health crisis. (...) Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the Internet. The Millennials grew up with the web as well, but it wasn’t ever-present in their lives, at hand at all times. iGen’s oldest members were early adolescents when the iPhone was introduced, in 2007, and high-school students when the iPad entered the scene, in 2010. The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health. Numerous pieces of evidence suggest that social media has an adverse effect on their users as it is associated with outcomes like depression and loneliness. In fact, the statistics are shruging: in 2011 the suicide rate surpassed the rate of teen homicide for the first time in almost three decades. These changes have affected young people in every corner of the nation and in every type of household. Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphones (...)