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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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Teenage years are about exploring new hobbies, art forms and various fashion trends (some of which they later come to deeply regret). It is generally a time for self-discovery, for aimless wandering, but one therapist has told Newsweek why she believes younger generations are now losing that sense of wander.
Hattie Awe is a primary therapist and family therapist for adolescents based in Chicago, Illinois, and if there is one trend she has noticed recently, it is a lack of exploration.
While generations in the past would fill time by socializing, learning new skills and hobbies, or embracing new media forms, the current crop of teens do not experience what she dubs “constructive boredom” because smartphones provide constant stimulation.
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Awe, 30, told Newsweek that she believes the effects “are detrimental” to their emotional wellbeing. Younger generations are struggling to go inward and process their emotions because they are constantly engaging with new content.
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In the U.K, Prime Minister, Keir Starmer recently announced a social media ban for under-16s that is expected to come into effect by spring 2027. The ban would apply to Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, as Starmer highlighted the need to protect children from harmful online content and excessive screen time.
“To sit with boredom is a prerequisite to finding your purpose,” Awe said. “Aimless time creates art, fashion, discourse, revelations, understanding, perspective, it allows us to wander into what drives us. Our inner world impacts the world around us, which means a low tolerance to sit with our inner world creates a low tolerance to handle the world around us.
“Emotional insight and reflection happen when we are allotted time to sit with it and explore. We have effectively removed any time intended for emotional processing, insight or reflection.”
Simply put, all that time that could be spent being creative or productive is now spent doomscrolling.
What Is the Impact of Social Media?
This sense of individuality does not only apply to fashion or hobbies either. Awe suggests that this phenomenon also makes it harder for youths to formulate their own opinions too.
Gone are the days of engaging with their peers and family members to gauge an understanding. Now, they are bombarded with opinions and views online and struggle to differentiate between their own.
“With the rise of social media, they are no longer comparing their thoughts to their friends', but millions of people. They can open their phone or devices and scroll infinitely, without ever running out of content,” Awe continued.
“Not only does this minimize the tolerance we as humans can spend with emotions and without distraction, but it floods individual with reactions of others.
"For teenagers (wherein peer and social relationships and being accepted are largely important), it can be hard to differentiate what other people think versus the individual ingesting the content.”
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The digital footprint also instills a sense of fear, as teenagers know that anything they say or post is out there permanently. This in turn discourages them from evolving their opinions and having that freedom to make mistakes, which is integral to emotional development.
Self-exploration is a major part of growing up, but how can teens do that if they are too scared of being judged or recorded?
How Can Parents Tackle This Phenomenon?
To think that this trend only impacts children is naïve, Awe says. After all, where do we think they are learning this behavior from?
Many parents spend their evenings on their phone and trying to decompress from work by mindlessly scrolling. Awe tells Newsweek that this habit is “robbing all of us of a quality of life,” but it is never too late to make a change.
Her advice is simple: put the phone down.
“Use your phone when you need it but then put it away,” she said. “Set a time of the day when you don’t use your phone, such as before breakfast or during commutes. Train the brain to find comfort in existing, without music or stimulation, just watching. Pick up a hobby, it could be something creative, active, intellectual, or something to do with others.”
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