Intelligence Squared
The Teen Mental Health Crisis and How Adolescence Shapes Us, with Lucy Foulkes and Pandora Sykes (Part 2)
Jan 8, 2025
Lucy Foulkes, an academic psychologist from Oxford and author of 'Coming of Age', teams up with journalist Pandora Sykes to dive into the teenage mental health crisis. They explore how adolescence is a pivotal time shaped by peer pressure, social media, and risk-taking. Foulkes argues against blanket smartphone bans, suggesting that experiencing challenges is vital for development. They also discuss the impact of pornography on teens' perceptions of sex and the need for open dialogue around sexual education, highlighting the confusion surrounding extreme content.
30:11
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Quick takeaways
- Adolescents face multifaceted mental health challenges influenced by academic pressure and societal changes, not solely by smartphones and social media.
- Understanding sexual education has shifted with the rise of unregulated pornography, necessitating open discussions to guide teenagers through its implications.
Deep dives
The Complexity of Adolescent Anxiety
Teenage anxiety results from multiple factors rather than a single cause. While the introduction of smartphones and social media has been blamed for rising mental health issues, data shows this correlation isn't straightforward, with anxiety rates climbing before smartphone proliferation. Other influencing factors include increased academic pressure due to rising university attendance and economic challenges such as poverty growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these pressures but was not the sole trigger for existing trends in mental health decline among teenagers.
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