불안 세대의 탄생 👀 스마트폰 이전부터 아이들을 노렸다ㅣ KBS 다큐 인사이트 - 불안 탐구 2부작 버닝 - 1부 불안 세대 260326 방송

KBS Documentary Insight [Anxiety Exploration 2-Part Series - Burning] Part 1: The Anxious Generation “We overprotect our children in the real world, while underprotecting them in the virtual world, which is actually the most dangerous.” Jonathan Haidt (American Social Psychologist) Mental health indicators for American adolescents have shown a record-breaking decline starting in 2012. Jonathan Haidt, an American social psychologist who has long observed changes in children, argues that this point coincides with the time when smartphone penetration rates surpassed 50%. He claims that the advent of smartphones has caused a surge in children's anxiety, depression, and suicide rates. Jonathan Haidt strongly asserts that we must return from a "smartphone-based childhood" to a "play-based childhood." How can we bring anxious children, who are immersed in the digital world, back into the real world? The first record of the "Anxiety Exploration 2-Part Series - Burning" traces the trajectory of the "Anxious Generation." ■ Australia’s Decision: War on Big Tech Australia was the first to take action, vowing to protect children from smartphones. The Australian government recently declared war on Big Tech by announcing legislation that strictly restricts social media use by teenagers. “When I gave my child a mobile phone, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it was helping my child and keeping them safe.” Emma Mason, mother of a teenage victim of cyberbullying in Australia Behind Australia’s national move lay the desperate cries of parents who had lost their children due to social media. These heart-wrenching cries awakened society, and the government drew the sword of “social media regulation for those under 16,” declaring it would save children from algorithmic pressure. Three months into the implementation of the legislation, have children truly regained a “safe daily life” in places where smartphones have been removed? ■ The Smartphone Generation: Children’s Brains Are on Fire The smartphone, which has taken over children’s worlds from the closest proximity while displaying a friendly face. How has this “object in our hands” changed our children? Studies showing that smartphones cause a decline in cognitive abilities are pouring out from around the world. Domestic researchers have even captured the process of functional alteration in the brain. It was discovered that in groups over-dependent on smartphones, the brain is overactivated—in other words, "burning up." A bigger problem is mental health. Teachers I met in schools testify that today's teenagers cannot endure long periods of time due to smartphones and tire easily. The diagnosis from the medical community is even more chilling. The number of pediatric and adolescent patients in closed psychiatric wards is increasing daily, and the youth suicide rate is also rising steeply. Experts speculate that this is not unrelated to smartphones. If so, can simply taking away smartphones really free children from immense pain and anxiety? ■ Anxious Children Created by Anxious Parents A child and adolescent psychiatrist who has observed the children of Daechi-dong for a long time asserts that, at least in Korean society, this is not the case. In a society where opportunities and a sense of belonging have become scarce, Korean parents have raised their children with a desperate determination to prevent them from living an anxious life at all costs. This is done by replacing ‘play’ with a ‘system of endless academic competition.’ A specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry points out that such efforts by parents constitute another shadow that dominates children beyond the smartphone. “Riding a two-wheeled bicycle is the easiest example. To ride a bicycle, you have to let go of the hand when you feel like you are about to fall. But parents refuse to let go.” Ryu Han-wook, Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Parents who act as an emotional greenhouse for their children, taking on even the minimal frustrations and failures the child should experience. This is because they are anxious. Parents with excessive anxiety cannot separate and help their children become independent, and children who fail to cultivate the strength to stand on their own end up hiding inside their homes, unable to blend into society. For such children, the smartphone serves as the perfect escape route. ■ Who is the Real Anxious Generation? Ironically, on the path parents pave to provide them with a stable life, children sometimes lose their sense of direction instead. The frustration and lack of self-exploration that one should naturally experience during childhood can return later as a boomerang in the form of unbearable burnout. Could it be that an anxious youth awaits the diligent child who grew up deprived of even the opportunity to experience frustration by anxious parents? Children who hide within the palms of their hands instead of ventu...