iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us

by Jean M. Twenge

The average teen checks her phone more than eighty times a day.

iGen is distinct from every previous generation in how its members spend their time,

They are obsessed with safety and fearful of their economic futures, and they have no patience for inequality based on gender, race, or sexual orientation. They are at the forefront of the worst mental health crisis in decades, with rates of teen depression and suicide skyrocketing since 2011. Contrary to the prevalent idea that children are growing up faster than previous generations did, iGen’ers are growing up more slowly: 18-year-olds now act like 15-year-olds used to, and 13-year-olds like 10-year-olds. Teens are physically safer than ever, yet they are more mentally vulnerable.

Where iGen goes, the country goes.

There’s not a single exception: all screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness.

“My view of LGBTQ is the same as on other people having sex before marriage: I don’t particularly care,” wrote Riley, 17. “I wouldn’t do it, but it has nothing to do with me, it doesn’t affect me in the slightest, and I have no right to tell other people what to do or believe. . . . I wouldn’t go to a protest for it or anything, but they can do what they want.”

But they do: in the Libertarian Party. Libertarians put the individual first and are opposed to government regulation. Just like iGen’ers, Libertarians support equal rights for everyone. They support legal abortion and legal marijuana on the principle that government should not restrict individual rights. For the same reason, Libertarians also oppose restrictions on guns and government regulations on the environment. The idea is: get your laws off my body, my stuff, and my guns, and let me do what I please.

As a result, more young Americans hold strong political views, yet fewer are interested in staying informed or taking part in political life.

“It seemed as if the people producing tech products were following the cardinal rule of drug dealing: Never get high on your own supply.”

Many iGen’ers and Millennials told me they almost always keep their phone on at night and are awakened by alerts and dings all night long. Many others told me they put their phones on silent but still end up grabbing it when they can’t sleep, even in the middle of the night. This is not a formula for healthy sleep. It’s not just the stimulation of the phone, but the light it emits: our caveman-evolved brains interpret it as sunlight, reducing our production of the sleep hormone

The story is different for iGen’ers: growing up in the shadow of the Great Recession, iGen’ers expect less and display less narcissism and entitlement. iGen’ers are more pessimistic and less confident than Millennials, with students now more willing to work hard and less likely to vociferously question their grades.