Young people’s mental health has been getting a lot of attention lately. In the wake of the publication of studies whose conclusions are dismaying, The Press published two open letters urging us to “stop scaring people”.
The experts who co-signed the first text implored us not to sink into catastrophism in the face of these “extraordinary” results. They advanced the possibility of “abusive interpretation” since “50% of young people who suffer from anxiety, that’s a lot. »
The second letter was from a Tel-Jeunes employee who rightly reminded us that sometimes anxiety “is normal. »
These nuances are welcome.
However, they risk trivializing a situation that parents and teachers consider serious.
Ultimately, the pressing question concerns less the exact percentage of young people suffering from anxiety than understanding the causes of this evolution and identifying possible solutions.
Paradigm shift
Let’s go back to the famous shuttle test which has shown a drastic decline in the cardiovascular capacity of young people since the 1980s.
Some blame the school for this downfall. However, it is rather outside the walls that the situation was played out.
Moreover, if similar tests existed in other spheres—for which we have not lowered the evaluation criteria over the years—we would no doubt notice similar reductions. And all this in parallel with the rise in mental health and behavioral disorders that we are seeing.
What happened between 1980 and today that can explain this?
I’child-king became thechild-prince.
The absence of clear and reassuring educational limits has sadly persisted, but, as a bonus, the field of freedom and autonomy of the child has shrunk to a trickle. Distraught and overprotected, this generation grew up in a bowl, delivered to a vicious circle of isolation and sedentary lifestyle, amplified by COVID.
2012: turning point
An eminently vocal critic of modern parenting, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt denounces the fact that we have traded a childhood brimming with creative boredom and free outdoor play for a childhood safe between four walls and screens.
Haidt regrets that by dint of anticipating and eliminating risks and frustrations, we feed the rampant anxiety of young people. More recently, he accused the culture of safe spaces and others trigger warning to reinforce the false premise that what hurts us makes us weaker. Finally, the professor notes that the particularly significant rise in mental health disorders dates back to 2012, a date which coincides with the advent of social networks. This is why he suggests strong measures such as: raising the age of maturity virtual environment, banning cell phones in class, prohibiting the use of telephones at the table and in the bedroom and setting screen time limits.
Beyond the measures, it seems clear that society as a whole must mobilize for young people to flourish. To paraphrase the famous prayer: may we have the strength to impose healthy limits on them when necessary, the courage to set them free when prescribed, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two needs.
Photo courtesy, André Hotte
Virginie Dostie-Toupin mother of four children