DAVID PENBERTHY
generation in real crisis.
It is a mental health crisis marked by anxiety, depression, self-doubt and insecurity.
The report, collated in association with the Black Dog Institute between 2012 and 2016, highlighted that almost one in four teens aged 15 to 19 years were at risk of serious mental illness.
And one in the 13 of those aged 12 to 17 had considered suicide in the past 12 months. These figures are off the charts.
Yet they come at a time of great widespread affluence compared to times past, a time of extended peace and national security (despite the horrors of modern terrorism).
Most interestingly and alarmingly, they come at a time when every one of our education departments, every school be it public or private, has incorporated the modern philosophy of resilience into the curriculum.
So the question is, if we are prosperous and peaceful, and teaching young people resilience skills, why are we demonstrably less resilient than we have ever been?
The noted child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg made some very valid observations upon the release of Mission Australia report, taking aim at the digital age. “These young people are under siege online from floods of pornography, body image comparisons, cyber-bullying, never mind the social skills lost through constantly being glued to a screen. Social media is not their friend,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.
You would have to reckon he’s got a point. But beyond that, maybe you actually learn resilience not by sitting in a classroom talking about it, but by being put in challenging and even troubling situations where you have to find a way to cope. To this end the problem might be less with the kids themselves but us parents.
Finance writer Scott Pape wrote a recent article about a study showing a majority of Australian kids now receive pocket money without having to perform a single domestic chore. A teacher texted our radio show this week saying he was stunned by how many parents now tell the school that their child will not be taking part in everything from public speaking and theatre to camps and sports because they find it too confronting or debilitating.
One of my most treasured possessions is my late grandfather’s complete set of 1950s adventure books, with suggested activities including building bonfires, navigating your way through the woods with a compass or using the sun, making rudimentary rockets with bicarb soda and vinegar.
As a parenting manual these books would probably now be illegal. And the kids are too busy playing Fortnite to have real adventures or read books anyway.
David Penberthy is a News Corp columnist. Regular columnist Hayley Sorensen is on leave.