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 word safety is now used to explain responses to incidents that don’t actually involve anyone’s safety. Last week, the principal of my children’s elementary school sent an email informing parents that someone, rumored to be some middle school students, had drawn “profanity and the image of a swastika” on the school building. “The safety of our students, staff and families is a top priority and I appreciate all of your efforts to keep our school and community free of this inappropriate and offensive behavior,” the principal concluded. Yes, it was completely unacceptable behavior, but framing it in terms of “safety” was pushing it. No one was threatened or hurt. Mentioning safety just inflamed the situation. The goal should instead be to educate those young people about what the symbol actually means and figure out why they would do something so stupid. Safety is cited as the reason for the most unlikely situations. When Bryce Maine wanted to bring his 69-year-old grandmother as his date to the prom at Eufaula High School in Alabama in spring 2017, the school principal said no, citing their rule that prom attendees must be 20 years old or younger. “Safety of students and staff is the first and most important of the many tasks of a school administrator,” he said in a statement. “We do not chance leaving any stone unturned when it comes to safety.” Bryce was told the rule was in place to prevent older people buying alcohol for underage students—an unlikely scenario in his g...