iGen - our students' generation

The Atlantic recently released a really interesting article, "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" The article describes members of the "iGen" generation as those born between 1995 and 2012, which will include most of the students that we are teaching this year.

Here is a portion from the article that sums up its main point nicely:

"The aim of generational study, however, is not to succumb to nostalgia for the way things used to be; it’s to understand how they are now. Some generational changes are positive, some are negative, and many are both. More comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party, today’s teens are physically safer than teens have ever been. They’re markedly less likely to get into a car accident and, having less of a taste for alcohol than their predecessors, are less susceptible to drinking’s attendant ills.

Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones."

If you get a chance, please read through the article. Understanding the trends, data, and facts that face our students is imperative to understanding how we best serve them as educators. We've read a lot about technology in our classes and have talked about it some. There are many realities about technology and its place in our students' lives that we cannot change, but it is important to understand how it is affecting students and how we need to respond. 

I am interested to hear your thoughts, especially as we hear many in education (districts, etc.) pushing the use of technology in the classroom, etc., but then these trends that show more screen time directly connects with higher rates of depression, lower enjoyment, etc. This is a critical tension that we must consider.