By Emma Gallagher
It is exhausting to always feel rushed.
Like you have so much to do but not enough time to get it done. There are countless distractions, whether they are merely things that are there to distract, or it is actual work that needs to get done. Constantly feeling torn about whether to pick up a phone, start doing homework, or go out with friends is a terrible thing.
There is a generation that experiences this feeling more than others. Teenagers are the loneliest generation of people. It is a pretty bold statement, but when all factors are taken into account, they are even more isolated than elderly people.
Social media and technology can be a teenager’s friend, or their worst enemy. It is easy to contact people in order to make plans, chat, or keep up with the things going on in their lives. On the flip side, these things can cause a distraction to the process of bonding with others or forming relationships. Instead of building the social skills to cover an awkward moment in a conversation, turning to scrolling through Facebook can be used as the easier way out. Jayne O’Donnell reinforces this in her USA Today article, “Teens aren’t socializing in the real world. And that’s making them super lonely.”
O’Donnell says that “Teens whose face time with friends is mostly on their phones are the loneliest of all. ” The direct effect of online communication on relationships is apparent, but games and social media have a similar effect. When a teenager wastes time on technology, it may be to procrastinate finishing schoolwork or studying for a test. I know that sometimes I personally have trouble focusing when my phone is lighting up next to me as I am trying to get my work done. It ends up taking twice as long and my focus is broken, whether I am losing my train of thought or I get sidetracked even further and begin doing something else.
Although technology is partly to blame, the amount of school work that young adults today need to do between projects, homework, and exams is tremendous. Instead of taking the time to enjoy what is believed to be the best years of their lives, they are stuck with the lingering thought that their grades will suffer if they choose to have fun. Most of the high school students I know have high standards for themselves, and will only happily accept very high grades. These kids pile up on honors and AP classes so that they can seem smart and get into a good college. These classes individually require a lot of dedication and hard work, so the amount of time that is put into taking multiple is unimaginable.
High school students are constantly working. They are constantly doing school work to the point where something feels off if they are not. In addition, if they choose to do their school work after spending time with their friends or doing something fun, it is hanging over their heads the entire time they are out. Rachel Simmons discusses in her Washington Post article, “Why Are Young Adults the Loneliest Generation in America?” that the thought of what a student is going to include in their project or essay is crossing their mind through the duration of the time that they are supposed to be enjoying themselves. They may also be thinking about their decision to go out, and beginning to regret it because they are panicking about not having enough time to complete their work.
Simmons says that they are “filling their every waking moment with work,” and that “41 percent of students said they felt ‘overwhelmed by all I had to do.’”
It seems pretty normal for teenagers to feel lonely. Gerine Lodder discusses that in her TED Talk “What you don’t know about adolescent loneliness.” She says that this mild loneliness can often shape into something serious that should not be ignored. She says that when isolation becomes serious, it can lead to problems with mental and physical health, and it can impact the remainder of that teenagers’ life all because they never got the help that they needed. People that are part of this age group can be stubborn and not very quick to admit when they have an issue. The people that are close to them need to be looking out for them and making sure that they do not see signs of extreme loneliness and isolation, so that a stop can be put to any case of it before developing into something very serious.
While it is true that it is very common for elderly people to feel isolated, their loneliness is not as likely as it is in young adults, according to Sean Coughlan in his BBC article, who analyzed “research [that] found that almost 10% of people aged 16 to 24 were ‘always or often’ lonely – the highest proportion of any age group. This was more than three times higher than people aged 65 and over.” When someone has had an experience once or twice before it is often easier to cope with. Older people have the wisdom and knowledge from experiences in their past to help them cope with this feeling. Their social skills also tend to be better than those of kids because they have been around for longer and they have interacted with many different types of people in their lifetime.
Isolation in young adults is an important issue that should be taken very seriously. Although it can be brushed off as a phase that comes with the age, it is a stage that everyone goes through at one point or another throughout their lifetime. Teens deserve more attention than other age groups struggling with isolation and loneliness.
