The iPhone Generation or Zombie Apocalypse

I was listening to a radio program where a psychologist was talking about the problems this new generation face — one being a high rate of teen suicide due to lack of coping skills or ability to communicate with others.

The expectations (and most are fake or supremely fudged over) that the young adults of today face are insurmountable — the ‘look like this’, ‘have a body like that’, ‘look how happy we are’ statuses and the constant flood of societal dictation of what beauty, brains and normal is.

God forbid if you think for yourself, dress how you want, love your body for what it is or stand up for others who are being ridiculed by their peers and not follow this preordained trend.

Read related article:  9 Truths to Stop You From Caring What People Think

To the trained eye and savvy social media peruser, it can even be a difficult task to filter out the fake from the true. Can you then imagine how difficult it must be for a developing adolescent to figure out what’s going on? The pressure and high intensity of our current techie age must be daunting to an impressionable mind!

Calling it What it is…

We need to help guide the youth to trust their instincts, follow their dreams, think for themselves, question everything and be comfortable in their own skin.

We also have a duty to warn them of these 2 inherent dangers that are about to stunt their personal growth, as I see it:

1. Lack of Humility/Modesty — this new social media age is breeding a monster called ‘selfies’. If I see another duck face on my Facebook feed I think I might take a long walk off a short plank. I fear, this syndrome has not only captivated the youth and teens — it has some adults in its firm and fierce-some grip too! To continually post photo’s of yourself (as taken by yourself and not to be confused with good ‘ol holiday snaps or ‘capturing the moment’ snaps as taken by others) on any social media platform is just darn-right vain. I have some acquaintances who do it several times a day and they’re adults! I can’t actually believe this kind of behavior and cringe when I see my whole feed taken up by fish faces. I don’t even think one a week is healthy (which reminds me of a status I saw: ‘I didn’t have time to take a selfie but you can rest assured that I still look fabulous!’…he he). Some people find ANY excuse to take a pic of themselves and don’t hesitate to hit the share button…again…and again. It shows either a massive ego at play or a very small one (lack of self confidence hence wanting constant affirmation of ones beauty/relevance). I saw a quote the other day that sums it up nicely: “Never before has a generation so diligently documented themselves accomplishing so little” (credit on photo: http://www.thefreethoughtproject.com). If we don’t nip this in the bud, we will be breeding a world full of egocentric individuals more focused on what other people think of them/their abilities instead of just getting on with the job quietly without pomp and ceremony (‘Dare, Do, Keep Silent’). Our children need to be made aware that to be humble in service to others and help our fellow human beings builds immense strong character — to be of service only to self whilst blowing your own trumpet creates none. Selfies could indeed paint a more grim picture than we might have imagined. Our children need to be taught that relevance, appropriateness and subtlety is key.
2. Lack of One-on-One Communication — the other problem our youth face is not being able to effectively communicate with others. With faces firmly glued to screens for most of the day, it’s little wonder that this generation lacks proper social relations. This is more of a problem than it may appear on the surface. Of course, it’s annoying (and bloody rude) when people are constantly checking in on their phone apps whilst with you (read related article: Stop (Wi)Frying Yourself — Starting Today (Especially Family Units!) but the more inherent problem is when these youngsters really need help and to talk about their problems but have no skills to relay or open a dialogue to discuss their issues either with their parents, elders or peers. Communique with others predominantly via electronic devices leaves out the imperative one-on-one contact you get when corresponding in the flesh. You don’t get to develop your skills at body language, eye contact and a host of other things. This can lead to faulty judgement and/or complete lack of confidence when corresponding in the outside world. Our youth will need this kind of report when seeking employment or any other grown-uppy kind of thing and how are they possibly going to manage when they have no clue when it comes to physical interface?

We all like the comfort of having the world at our fingertips via our phones but we also need to be aware of the downside and curb excessive and unnecessary use — and that goes for all, young and old.

Limit your time on your phone and have a cut off point where you pack it away and spend quality time with your friends or family — phone free. Do this and you will be an example to your children (and/or other peoples children).

Related article: How Balanced Are You?

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (2 Dire Growth Problems Our Youth Face) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.

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