Social Media Dangers Documentary — Childhood 2.0

Well worth the 1 1/2 hours to watch. A great look at the changes in society since we were kids looking at social media, technology, and the growth of mental health issues. My fear when posting a documentary like this is that parents decide to just get rid of their kid’s phones and other technology. We need to look at how we can work with the good things that technology brings while at the same time addressing the negative. It is teaching our kids how to have a better relationship with their phones. I always say more teaching and less telling. Equipping them and empowering them is the goal. It is something we as adults need to learn and model as well. I have a 9 part youtube series called How To Have a Better Relationship With your Phones you can check out Part 1 here (https://youtu.be/4oGWyn9XQ4w)

For the first time in history, mental illness and suicide have become one of the greatest threats to school-aged children. Many parents still view dangers as primarily physical and external, but they’re missing the real danger: kids spending more time online and less time engaging in real life, free play, and autonomy. What are the effects on the next generation’s mental, physical, and spiritual health? Childhood was more or less unchanged for millennia, but this is CHILDHOOD 2.0.

“My anxiety ramps up when I am on my phone more. Not from any specific thing. The more time I spend in my head … the worse off I get” – Student

I do think we have to be careful in the conversation with social media/technology and mental health. I do think that phones have caused us to have worse mental health. But, I also think that over-parenting plays a massive role in anxiety with students. When we over function in our parenting, our kids will then under function. We also have poor diets, worse sleep, lack of exercise, and other changes in society. We need to address all of these things.

The software that sponsored this free release is called Bark. https://www.bark.us/ It is a resource I share in my own talks to parents.