All Grown Up!
Source: Rosie Leishman.
Let’s be real. Most of us are digital natives.
Whether you grew up with a Tamagotchi or a Motorola Razr, or were an OG iPad kid – many of UC’s undergraduate cohort are of the first generation who barely remember a world without technology.
Those who have come after us have been born and raised reliant on the online, dependent on screens for entertainment, friendship, and education.
We’ve all heard from an older relative or two, “back in my day we didn’t have technology…” as they proceeded to lecture us on how easy we’ve all got it now. They aren’t wrong – we do have the world at our fingertips, but consequently, “kids these days” deal with a lot.
Exposed to sickening real-world issues and graphic adult content they aren’t mature enough to comprehend – growing up is now much more complex. Kids seem like they’re getting much older, much younger, “losing” their childhood to screens.
Our age group can imagine, and maybe remember, a childhood without screens. But today’s kids see the world completely differently. They will never recognise a world without advanced digital technology.
18-year-old Chloe Johns said, “I feel like I grew up fast, but my 12-year old cousin has [grown up] even faster.”
However, whether they are getting older or staying too young is a matter of perspective. With kids becoming less independent and interpersonally connected, they are instead savvier and more politically conscious.
Dr Megan Gath, of UC’s Child Well-being Research Institute, said, “I wouldn't say that children and teens are growing up faster, but I do think… childhood and 'teenhood' today looks different than past generations.”
Dr. Gath’s research shows more screen time during preschool years leads to poorer development by the time the child is at school. This includes weaker communication, writing, counting, vocab, and attention skills, as well as detrimentally impacting the child’s ability to form positive relationships with others.
We can all admit we’re addicted to our screens, reliant on them one way or another, and kids are no different.
“Screens are part of the day-to-day life of most children today,” said Gath.
Source: Rosie Leishman.
Johns admitted, “When I don’t have my phone, I feel weird. It’s bad, it feels like an addiction,” – which is true for almost anyone these days, Gen Z or not.
A 2023 study in The New Zealand Medical Journal revealed that a majority of youth exceeded the Ministry of Health’s recommendation for a suitable amount of daily screen time, with increasing evidence of children experiencing symptoms of problematic screen use.
The New Zealand Herald found, in a survey of youth aged 15 to 18, that the average age Kiwi kid had their first phone at 12. Research from a TNS New Zealand-Canvas survey found that the 150 kids sampled used tech devices or services for an average of 7.4 hours a day.
Unlike watching TV for a special occasion, children have any-time, any-place access to screens, which easily disrupts social interactions and in-person conversations crucial for language and social development, mental health, and well-being.
“While there can certainly be some benefits of building connections with others online, they are not a replacement for real-world relationships and social interactions,” said Dr. Gath.
It’s more than just screentime supposedly aging youth, but the kind of content. Growing up constantly exposed to adult content makes a childhood shorter lived. Johns spoke of knowing of younger kids who post very sexualised content online: “It’s like they’ve skipped five years.”
“Spaces online are not child friendly… there's no actual restrictions [and] of course, kids and young teenagers want to access social spaces where older people are,” said Sarah Whitcombe-Dobbs, Director of the Child and Family Psychology programme at UC.
Children aren’t being given the chance to grow up censored from these realities, and “this continued exposure to fear and stress is harmful,” said Whitcombe-Dobbs.
No wonder the average 15-year-old you see seems a decade older.
“As a kid, I was watching things on TV that our parents wouldn't have when they were young. You’re learning and seeing things a normal 10-year-old wouldn't,” said Johns. “I feel like I've been traumatised by things I saw on TV as a kid!”.
Gath validated this: “Modern issues combined with technology are impacting youth today.” The internet provides more awareness on global issues, “which can be a lot for children and teens to deal with”.
“We are already seeing some of the effects now, with the declining state of youth mental health,” explained Gath.
Kids aren’t in positions of power to solve global problems like climate change, nor are they responsible for their occurrence. They’ve only been around a few years, but they’re living with the ramifications of past generations' behaviour.
Kids are growing up faster because they are forced to deal with adult problems younger. “We are starting to lose childhood to modernity,” said Dr. Gath.
Having grown up not remembering a world without some sort of tablet-sized screen, Johns acknowledged that despite the benefits of making friends online, “kids are being exposed to beauty standards at such a young age which would have really harmed me if I was that young.”
“I grew up not knowing standards and not caring, but these kids seem so influenced by what is considered pretty or not.”
Additionally, there has been an increase in overprotective parenting, which shows kids aren’t being given as much freedom or independence. This means children are playing outside less and spending more time on devices.
“Harms that they might experience online… [are] more detrimental to their development than those that they might experience in the real world,” said Gath.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt told The New Yorker that parents are "overprotecting children in the real world, and under protecting children in the digital world,” which robs them of their childhood innocence.
It’s hard to blame parents. Putting kids in front of the TV or a phone is like a free, 24/7 babysitter. It's hard to imagine what caregivers did before screens.
But there is hope!
“Humans have adjusted to different environmental stressors throughout history,” said Whitcombe-Dobbs. “Our brains and makeup have evolved to adapt enormously to a wide range of different environments…. we carry on because humans are very good at that.”
Gath agreed: “It's never too late! If we are aware of the potential impacts of the direction that we are heading, we can change this.”
Limiting screen time and making sure our digital consumption is purposeful will help make sure that children have more space to be independent offline, and in turn, have a childhood.
“Letting 'kids be kids' is the best thing we can do to help them grow into happy, healthy, and resilient adults,” said Gath.
So maybe youth are growing up too fast, or maybe they are just growing up differently? Adapting and developing alongside social norms and environmental shifts, like we always have done?
Our childhoods are unique to us as individuals. For a kid now, their experience of growing up will still feel nostalgic a decade down the line.
Our generation’s experience of childhood has been completely different to that of our parents, who probably thought we grew up faster as well – but we are all still nostalgic for that past life.
So, let’s just learn from kids these days, to be encouraged to take more time offline – to slow things down and enjoy the now.