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Hi Coach,
Today, we’re diving into The Anxious Generation and the role sports and coaches can play in combatting it.
QUOTE
“… Soon after teens got iPhones, they started getting more depressed. The heaviest users were also the most depressed, while those who spent more time in face-to-face activities, such as on sports teams and in religious communities, were the healthiest.”
NEWSLETTER
On Monday, I started reading Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation.
The book looks at what caused the massive spike in anxiety, depression, mental illness, and addiction in Gen Z.
It’s been hard to put it down.
I’ve been hit with emotions of disgust and sadness at what has happened to our children, but also with hope and passion, particularly for the role that sport can, and I believe will, play in undoing much of what has been done to our children.
As coaches, we’ve seen it first-hand over the past decade as adolescents went through their most formative years of childhood, puberty, with an iPhone filled with social media apps on it glued to their hand.
Coaching young people has become increasingly difficult as it often seems they lack many of the foundational relational skills to build a collaborative, healthy team.
How did this happen?
Haidt makes two core claims in the book:
1) We have overprotected children in the real world, and underprotected children in the virtual world.
2) We’ve traded a play-based childhood for a phone-based childhood.
Haidt also lays out four key actions parents and communities should take to “provide a foundation for a healthier childhood in the digital age…”
No smartphones before high school
No social media before 16
Phone-free schools
Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence
As a parent of three young kids, a coach, and former teacher, I couldn’t be more behind the four actions above.
We’ve got to give our children their childhood back. It’s been hijacked by technology.
As coaches, we have such a powerful opportunity to give our children meaningful experiences in the real world, which is exactly what they need more of.
Did you read that quote at the top of this newsletter?!?!
Just go ahead and read it again below…
“The heaviest users were also the most depressed, while those who spent more time in face-to-face activities, such as on sports teams and in religious communities, were the healthiest.”
That gets me pumped up.
Coaches and sports are part of the antidote to this anxious generation!
We as coaches are creating and overseeing experiences for young people that can change the trajectory of their lives.
Here’s what the research says the benefits of sport participation are for children…
Children who participate in sports show increases in these areas.
Children who participate in sports show decreases in these areas.
I want a world full of healthier children who become healthier adults.
We’re part of the antidote.
See below for some practical thoughts on how we can be part of the solution.
COACHING APPLICATION
A few thoughts on applying this in your coaching or leadership context…
Create and enforce strict boundaries around technology use on your teams. For example:
No phones in the gym or on the field
No phones during team meals or meetings
No phones on the bus (they’ll hate this at first but then something magical will happen, they’ll start talking to each other)
Share the research and data around teen mental health and social media use with your parents and players
Spend time during practices, meetings, or travel having athletes participate in face-to-face relationship-building activities with their peers
Take a 2-day retreat with your team with no technology allowed
CLOSING
Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.
To being a part of the solution for kids,
Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics
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