A new scientific paper out of England proposes that social media is one cause for both the premature ending of childhood and delayed transition to adulthood until age 24.
The age of adolescence
Adolescence is the phase of life stretching between childhood and adulthood, and its definition has long posed a conundrum. Adolescence encompasses elements of biological growth and major social role transitions, both of which have changed in the past century. Earlier puberty has accelerated the onset of adolescence in nearly all populations, while understanding of continued growth has lifted its endpoint age well into the 20s. In parallel, delayed timing of role transitions, including completion of education, marriage, and parenthood, continue to shift popular perceptions of when adulthood begins.
The paper suggests a view of adolescence as between the ages of 10 and 24 “corresponds more closely to adolescent growth and popular understandings of this life phase.”
The paper also remarked on the role of social media, regarding it as being among the “unprecedented social forces…affecting health and wellbeing across these years.”
The paper cited “delayed timing of role transitions, including completion of education, marriage and parenthood” in affecting the perception of when adulthood effectively begins. It goes on to suggest the longer range of adolescence is “essential” for “developmentally appropriate framing of laws, social policies, and service systems.”
If the paper’s premise were adopted, one logical conclusion would be the extension of the period in life when one might enjoy the privileges of adulthood, such as voting and driving automobiles, without the corresponding responsibilities or legal liabilities of being an adult (for which those costs are often shifted to the innocent victims or society in general). For example, in many states, minors (under age 18) are treated as juveniles and often receive much more lenient sentences (and charging decisions) on account of age, even when their crime is very much a “grown-up” crime and the impact of the crime on the victim is no less.
One can also view this as cynical social engineering. A call to increase social services, with the justification of an expanded population “in need” and “at risk,” would result in subsequent calls for increased government funding of social services. As someone has to be paid to provide those services, the redefinition of adolescence can be suspected to be merely the latest pseudo-scientific attempt to lengthen the public employee / social services gravy train, which always seems to run on time.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
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