Building “BWMP” for the Digital Technology Era
When it comes to youth and technology, America is experiencing moral panic.
Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation, has amped up the alarms over social media and mental health. Other researchers, most notably Candice Odgers, offer a competing view of what the current research says about social media’s effects on adolescent mental health. The intricacies of the arguments Haidt, Odgers and others set forth are, in many cases, lost in the media coverage of the debate. What we’re left with, thanks to second and third retellings of the research findings, are oversimplified, bright-line claims that technology is either all good or all bad.
Americans tend to like this good vs. bad framework. It’s convenient. In fictional Hollywood movies, it can help writers craft fun stories. But when it comes to understanding how to promote flourishing in the 21st century, the good vs. bad categorical options are unsatisfying, at best, and all too often outright harmful.
As with things, the answer to technology is: It depends. What’s most important is to create experiences – in person or on screens – that build belonging, meaning, wellbeing and purpose (BMWP) for Denver’s young adults. The Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative (DOYI) is making this happen.
Launched in 2012, DOYI is a regional effort to expand employment and education pathways and opportunities for 9,000 young adults ages 16-24 who are not in school and not working. The focus on BMWP is central to the work of this collaborative and led to recent conversations with young people. At one recent youth forum, students shared their aspirations for increasing healthier uses of technology and decreasing the negative uses.
“It soothes me to move away from my phone for a little bit and pamper myself and others”.
It makes me feel like I belong when people are “talking and listening – paying attention and not on their phone.”
Wellbeing is about “getting outside in nature and taking a deep breath. Experiencing what we got while it’s here.”
Asked what would improve their wellbeing, students’ answers included:
“Not being on the phone so much.”
“Less TikTok.”
TikTok, for sure, is dominant among young adults. It is a source of information. It is a way they connect. It is a way they make sense of the world.
Research confirms that some young adults who experience isolation and loneliness are finding healthy ways to use technology. The platforms help them meet new people, reconnect with old friends, and compare notes with members of their social group. All of this can help increase feelings of belonging.
Doomscrolling, on the other hand, heightens anxiety and distress. The risks are all the greater for individuals who already may be suffering and then turn to doomscrolling as a kind of self-medication. Because the algorithm is scary good at figuring out what triggers our anxieties and fears and sending us endless spools, there’s good reason for DOYI to help young adults direct their attention to experiences that build up BWMP.
Today’s young adults grew up with technology that shaped their lives socially and academically. We have to understand the forces that influence them, including social media. These forces are shaping young adults’ sense of themselves and their place in the world. The Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative network of partners is supporting positive development in ways that will prepare young adults to flourish in the digital age.
You too can become a positive force in this movement. Click here to get more involved with a Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative (DOYI) working group.
