News Investigation

Generation Z: Online and at Risk?

Sep 2016 🇺🇸 Scientific American

Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.

Outside the U.S.? Find your local helpline at findahelpline.com.

In this September 2016 Scientific American Mind feature, Nicholas Kardaras examines how heavy social-media and gaming use is associated with psychological strain in teenagers. Opening with a composite case of a middle-schooler whose behavior changed after heavy device and social-app use on a school-issued laptop, he argues that digital platforms create an illusion of belonging that can leave real emotional needs unmet, and that habitual checking and texting are associated with reward-seeking patterns similar to those seen in other compulsive behaviors. Citing outside survey research, he links frequent, high-volume texting and social-networking among high schoolers with a greater reported likelihood of substance use and other risk behaviors, and cites survey findings connecting heavy networking time with higher rates of depression and reported suicide risk. Kardaras recommends delaying children's social-media access and increasing parental monitoring. TechKids Foundation notes that suicide and self-harm are never attributable to any single factor.

20% of surveyed high schoolers were 'hypertexters'

The article cites survey research finding that high schoolers sending 120+ texts a day were about twice as likely to have tried alcohol and reported a higher likelihood of multiple sexual partners than lighter texters — the article's own cited figure, not independently verified by TechKids.

84% / 94% higher likelihood of drug use / physical fights among 'hypernetworkers'

Teens spending 3+ hours daily on social media ('hypernetworkers') were cited as roughly 84% more likely to report illegal drug use and 94% more likely to report physical fights than lighter users — the article's own cited figure, not independently verified by TechKids.

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CITATION

Kardaras, Nicholas. "Generation Z: Online and at Risk?" Scientific American Mind, vol. 27, no. 5, September 1, 2016. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/generation-z-online-and-at-risk/

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