The anxiety and depression epidemic and the spending disruption

The anxiety and depression epidemic and the spending disruption

We keep investing money into our personal electronic devices like there's no tomorrow, we always want more, we always want the newest thing - and schools are no different. In fact, $3.8 billion is spent on classroom technology every year - but 27% of it doesn't meet learning goals!

Translation: $1 billion of your ed-tech tax dollars are wasted annually.

At the same time, only three states provide care to children in the name of funding issuesat leastone school counselor – formerly known as a counselor – for every 250 students, as recommended. Only three others are equally disturbingat leastone school psychologist for every 750 students, according to federal data.

Put them together and what do you have? Rising rates of anxiety and depression among our young people who don't have much of a safety net.

Aside from that…

• In a 2019 Pew Research survey, 70% of teens surveyed agreed that stress, anxiety, and depression among their peers are a major problem.

• A 2017 Stress in America survey by the American Psychological Association found that 60% of parents are concerned about the influence of social media on their child's physical and mental health.

• A recent NBC News/Survey Monkey poll found that nearly 33% of 1,300 parents of 5- to 17-year-olds blamed social media for their children's mental and emotional health problems.

• According to the CDC, depression rates among 14- to 17-year-olds increased by more than 60% from 2009 to 2017.

• According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 32% of adolescents suffer from an anxiety disorder, with 12% of our 12- to 17-year-olds reporting major depression in the past year.

• Between 2005 and 2017, the proportion of teens ages 12 to 17 who reported severe depressive symptoms increased from 8.7% to 13.2%, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Of such facts and the argument that teenagers use their smartphones as their "preferred social media," psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University says, "It suggests that there is something seriously wrong in young people's lives and that everything that went wrong seemed to happen." around 2012 or 2013.”

And that's about the time when, as Twenge notes, smartphones became commonplace and "social media went from optional to mandatory among teens...What you get is a sea change in the way teens spend their free time. They spend less time sleeping, less time with their friends face to face...It's not something that happened to their parents..."

University of Southern California Vice Provost for Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention Varun San adds, "The root of this is a sense of disconnection. These are students who are so connected online. These are students who may have 1,000 friends online but are having difficulty making friends in real life."

Also to note:

1. Of the 1,800 19- to 21-year-olds surveyed, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that the top 25% of social media users are at higher risk for depression than the bottom 25%.

2. University College London found that teens who used social media for more than 5 hours a day showed a 50% increase in depressive symptoms for girls and a 35% increase for boys compared to 1 to 3 hour users.

3. According to a British Millennium Cohort Study, 43% of girls reported spending 3 hours or more on social media, as did 21.9% of boys - and 26% of those girls and 21% of those boys had higher depression scores than those who spent less than 3 hours.

And now just in: An analysis from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Albany and NYU Langone Medical Center found that babies as young as 12 months get nearly an hour of screen time each day, as 3-year-olds say in more than 150 minutes.

In other words, follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, which recommend NO screens for babies/toddlers under 18 months, with a gradual addition between 18 and 24 months and no more than an hour per day for those 2 to 5.

And then tell your children...

1. No more than 2 hours per day on any device other than computer-related homework.

2. No devices at the dinner table or during quiet homework/study times other than online assignments

3. Don't use a device an hour before bed - too stimulating and the blue light will wreak havoc on your sleep.

4. Don't go to bed with your smartphone in your hand. If used as a wake-up alarm, purchase an alarm clock instead.

Oh yes, and follow your own good advice for your own good...

Inspired by Carol Josel