
Why Are Young Adults The Loneliest Generation? | The Washington Post
While screen time is often vilified in the media for creating more disconnection than connection, Rachel Simmons, a New York Time bestselling author and co-founder of Girls Leadership, offers a different perspective. She argues that impugning smartphones exclusively for the loneliness epidemic oversimplifies a complex problem and distracts us from examining the cultural forces undermining our youth’s well-being.
It’s not that our youth is spending too much time alone on screens, by but rather, our culture of constant busyness. As an educator working with college students, her assessment is that our youth is spending too much of their time with peers working: running meetings, producing plays, organizing conferences or studying. Activities that achieve goals, are prioritised over meaningful connection. To be overwhelmed and constantly busy are the new norms, and anything less, feels lazy.