Young People are struggling with connection
Young people spend 50% less time engaged in face-to-face interactions compared to 15-20 years ago. This disconnection is a major contributor to the youth mental health crisis, with alarming trends:
More than half of teen girls report persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness.
Suicide among males ages 10 to 24 has risen over 60% in recent years.
Youth in the U.S. report lower happiness and well-being than any other age group, a stark contrast to historical trends and to the expectation that youth are happier.
Young adults are experiencing historically high levels of loneliness, with 30% saying they are lonely every day or several times a week.
TRENDS AND PROJECTIONS FOR THE UP AND COMING GENERATION
The current trajectories are troubling. Since 2009, more than twice as many 15- to 19-year-old girls have been admitted to U.S. emergency rooms for self-harm. Even more shocking, five times more 10- to 14-year-old girls were admitted to the ER for self-harm in 2022 than 2009.
The patterns of disconnection can have lifelong implications. As recently as 1980, only 5% of adults never married. Projections now show that distressing numbers of todays 20-year-olds will never marry, including one-third in the U.S. and nearly half in the U.K. This is highly concerning for the well-being of our society.
And there is a looming threat of even more human disconnection for our young people with the emergence of AI companions. Some surveys of young adults indicate that one in three respondents would consider AI as a romantic partner. Since human connection is critical to every major area of well-being, the consequences of real human relationships being replaced by AI are life altering-and in some cases, without intervention, irreversible.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Struggling athletes and connection
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.