演讲题目：What we're getting wrong about teens and tech

演讲简介：

多年来，我们一直收到这样的警告：智能手机正在毁掉一代人。但发展心理学家坎迪斯•奥杰斯表示，数十年来关于青少年的数据却讲述了另一个故事——暴力、饮酒和怀孕率都处于历史最低水平，而且研究表明，社交媒体可能并非心理健康问题的真正罪魁祸首。请听她分析如今究竟是什么在困扰着孩子们，以及为什么禁止他们上网可能会让情况变得更糟。



中英文字幕

Teenagers today are amazing.

现在的青少年太神奇了。

You didn't think I was going to use that word.

你没想到我会用这个词。

Because as we age, our adult brains have a harder time making this teenager-equals-amazing connection.

因为随着年龄的增长，我们成年后的大脑更难建立这种青少年般的惊人联系。

I've always worried that I'd reach the age

我一直担心我会到这个年纪，

where I'd look back and immediately judge the youth of today,

当我回顾过去时，我会立即评判今天的年轻人,

for what they wear or how they spend their time, lament the loss of my free-range childhood，

对于他们的穿着或他们如何度过时间，为我失去散养童年而哀叹,

and wish that they would spend more of their time doing things that we did, like, crash our cars and excessively drink.

并希望他们能花更多的时间做我们做过的事情，比如撞车和酗酒。

True story.

这是真实的故事。

But I'm beginning to think that I'm immune from judging teenagers in this way.

但我开始认为我不会以这种方式评判青少年。

And I think it's because I now know too much about them.

我想这是因为我现在对他们了解太多了。

So let me explain.

那么让我解释一下。

I'm a developmental psychologist.

我是一名发展心理学家。

And for the past 25 years -- that's a long time -- I've been analyzing trends in teen mental health.

在过去的25年里--这是很长的一段时间--我一直在分析青少年心理健康的趋势。

Since 2008, we've been working with thousands of 10 to 14-year-olds，

自2008年以来，我们一直在与数千名10至14岁的青少年合作,

getting information every day from their phones,

他们每天从手机上获取信息,

on how they're feeling, how they spend their time, who they're with.

关于他们的感受、他们如何度过时间、和谁在一起。

With their consent, we look at their school records.

在他们同意的情况下，我们查看了他们的学校记录。

We track their sleep data.

我们跟踪他们的睡眠数据。

We look at their step count.

我们查看他们的步数。

And we see what they're doing online.

我们看到他们在网上做什么。

Importantly, we listen to them about what upsets them and what they need to be well.

重要的是，我们倾听他们的意见是什么让他们感到不安以及他们需要做什么。

It has been a really incredible and at times, a wild ride.

这真是一次令人难以置信的过程，有时甚至是一次疯狂的过程。

It's also been an illuminating one.

这也是一个有启发性的问题。

Because one of the most consistent things we have found is:

因为我们发现的最一致的事情之一是：

That the stories that you and I are told repeatedly, every day about teenagers today,

你和我每天都被重复讲述的关于今天青少年的故事，

that they are lost, that they are worse off than ever, that somehow smartphones and social media have destroyed them and their brains.

他们迷失了方向，他们的处境比以往任何时候都更糟，智能手机和社交媒体以某种方式摧毁了他们和他们的大脑。

It doesn't match the data.

这与与数据不匹配。

And it doesn't match what they tell us.

而且这与他们告诉我们的不相符。

There is a massive gap.

这之间存在巨大的差距。

And as I've tried to make sense of this gap, I keep coming back to a simple truth that we all know:

当我试图理解这个差距时，我不断回到一个我们都知道的简单事实:

Scary stories sell.

恐怖故事很畅销。

They always have.

总是这样。

And the more often you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it's true.

你听到某件事的次数越多，你就越有可能相信它是真的。

I'm going to say it again.

我要再说一遍。

The more often you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it's true.

你听到某件事的次数越多，你就越有可能相信它是真的。

And scary stories are really easy to sell to parents.

恐怖故事很容易让父母感知。

We are an anxious lot.

我们是一群焦虑的人。

The hyper-vigilance -- it hits us.

过度警惕困扰着我们。

When we hold that tiny baby in our arms, our entire world changes.

当我们将那个小婴儿抱在怀里时，我们的整个世界都改变了。

It hits again when they hit puberty.

当他们进入青春期时又会焦虑。

And they begin to change in these dramatic and rapid ways.

就以这种戏剧性而迅速的方式发生变化。

When our sense of control over them and what comes next begins to feel less certain.

当我们对他们的控制感和接下来的事情开始变得不那么确定时。

I get this.

我明白了这点。

My 15-year-old is six-foot-four.

我15岁的孩子身高六英尺四英寸。

My 12-year-old is embracing independence like she's leaving for college next week.

我12岁的孩子正在拥抱独立，就像她下周就要去上大学一样。

But the good news is:

但好消息是：

That the real story about teens today is far more positive and far less frightening than the stories we all read.

今天关于青少年的真实故事比我们读到的故事要积极得多，也不那么可怕。

They have made remarkable progress on metrics that really matter.

他们在真正重要的指标方面取得了显着进展。

And we know a lot about how to keep them happy, safe, and well.

我们知道如何让他们快乐、安全和健康。

OK, the bad news.

好吧，还有坏消息。

The bad news is: we are in the middle of an adult mental health crisis.

坏消息是：我们正处于成人心理健康危机之中。

And caregiver mental health is the most important predictor of teen mental health by far.

照顾者的心理健康是迄今为止青少年心理健康最重要的预测因素。

So if we are concerned about teens today, we need to invest in real and meaningful ways in the adults around them.

因此，如果我们今天关心青少年，我们就需要以真正且有意义的方式投资于他们周围的成年人。

Many of them are simply not OK.

他们中的许多人根本就不好。

So I'll come back to that.

我一会儿来讨论这个问题。

But first, I want to share with you a few science-based facts about kids today.

但首先，我想与大家分享一些关于当今孩子的科学事实。

And I'm going to focus on American teens,

我将重点关注美国青少年,

because that's where a lot of the stories that you and I are hearing come from.

因为这就是你我听到的很多故事的来源。

So in the past 20 years, we've had some major wins.

在过去的20年里，我们取得了一些重大胜利。

Rates of teen violence, alcohol use, pregnancy have plummeted to historic lows.

青少年暴力、酗酒和怀孕的比率已降至历史低点。

You are looking at the most educated generation ever in terms of high school graduation.

就高中毕业而言，您正在看到有史以来受教育程度最高的一代。

Young people are inventors.

年轻人是发明家。

They're activists.

他们是激进分子。

They're leaders.

他们是领导者。

They're amazing singers.

他们是很棒的歌手。

They're Olympians.

他们是奥运选手。

They're amazing.

他们太棒了。

But they're also telling us that they're sadder.

但他们也告诉我们，他们更悲伤了。

And they're more worried about the world that they're growing up in.

他们更担心自己成长的世界。

So they report increased concerns about safety at school, climate change, racism, their future.

他们对学校安全、气候变化、种族主义和他们的未来感到越来越担忧。

In our studies, what we find is the most frequently reported stressors

在我们的研究中，我们发现的是最常报告的压力源，

are conflict in their home and pressure to do well at school.

是家里的冲突和在学校表现出色的压力。

And those are also the things that predict their mental health day to day.

这些也是预测他们日常心理健康的因素。

Now, since 2008, we've seen an uptick in youth suicide risk.

现在，自2008年以来，我们看到青少年自杀风险上升。

But perhaps this shouldn't be surprising.

但也许这不应该令人惊讶。

because adult suicide has been increasing dramatically in the United States since 1999.

因为自1999年以来，美国的成人自杀率急剧增加。

Remember when I said that adult mental health and caregiver mental health.

还记得我说过成人心理健康和护理人员心理健康吗？

Is the most important predictor of child mental health?

是儿童心理健康最重要的预测因素吗？

Well, with that in mind, I want to take a look at this slide.

考虑到这一点，请看看这张幻灯片。

This graph here shows you that between 2011 and 2021, the rate of overdoses due to drug use among parents more than doubled.

这张图表显示，2011年至2021年间，父母因吸毒而吸毒过量的比例增加了一倍多。

People ask me all the time: what could have happened during this period other than social media coming online?

人们总是问我：除了社交媒体上线之外，这段时间还会发生什么？

The answer is that adults were in distress and parents were dying.

答案是成年人陷入困境，父母正在死去。

OK, let's go back to that elephant in the room.

好吧，让我们回来。

Social media and smart-phones also increased during this period.

社交媒体和智能手机在此期间也有所增加。

But here's the weird thing:

但奇怪的是：

In our longitudinal studies, social media does not emerge as a major predictor of teen mental health.

在我们的纵向研究中，社交媒体并不是青少年心理健康的主要预测因素。

Many others find the same, concluding, and I'm going to quote.

结论是，许多其他人也有同样的看法，我将引用一下。

That social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting teen mental health.

社交媒体是预测青少年心理健康影响最小的因素之一。

For most adolescents, like boys, there's no association.

对于大多数青少年来说，比如男孩，没有任何联系。

And for girls, what we find is that girls that are depressed go on to use social media more.

对于女孩来说，我们发现抑郁的女孩会更多地使用社交媒体。

But not the other way around.

反之亦然。

Social media does not meaningfully predict future mental health problems.

社交媒体并不能有意义地预测未来的心理健康问题。

Now, despite this, adults are quickly converging on banning social media for under-16s,

现在，尽管如此，成年人很快就开始禁止16岁以下的人使用社交媒体,

as a simple and singular solution to solving the youth mental health crisis.

作为解决青少年心理健康危机的简单而独特的解决方案。

And here is the crazy part:

这是疯狂的部分:

There's not one single study to date that has actually tested whether shutting it off impacts their mental health.

迄今为止，还没有一项研究真正测试了关闭它是否会影响他们的心理健康。

And when we do this among adults, we find on average impacts that are close to or indistinguishable from zero.

当我们在成年人中这样做时，我们发现平均影响接近于零或与零无区别。

I know, there's a big distance between the story we're told and the data.

我知道，我们所讲述的故事和数据之间有很大的距离。

The National Academies of Sciences, one of the most well-respected organizations in the world,

国家科学院是世界上最受尊敬的组织之一,

convened an expert panel, and they came to this conclusion also.

召开了一个专家小组，他们也得出了这个结论。