I am neither a psychiatrist nor a psychologist. But my intuition and my long years of life have led to my understanding of why living a normal life is becoming harder and more stressful to achieve and enjoy.
Today’s children, youths and adults are giving up on leading a normal, trouble-free life. There have been so many intrusions involving our lifestyle that we are incapable of asserting ourselves as to what we want and do not want to do. Certain modern inventions are thrust at us with such manipulation that we accept them without foreseeing their consequences on our traits of life.
You hear people stating that “those” were better days and, yet, they partake in whatever is thrown at them.
I accept the fact that life has improved immensely when taking into consideration the huge technological advances that have been made in the past 50 years.
The digital world has taken over what we were capable to do mentally and manually. It is now so easy to attain perfection in work and ideas using less effort to achieve one’s aim. But the resulting mode of life leaves one in a conundrum.
Any achievement without any sincere effort leaves one underrated. We are likely facing a turn for the worse with the evolution that is taking place with the coming of artificial intelligence. We should be ready for it.
We need to start from the very young ones to return to some form of semblance.
Adults rearing children often resort to modern gadgets, mainly online game consoles and smartphones, to keep their young ones quiet.
China, which is a leader in providing such types of apps and programmes (among them the infamous TikTok app), is considering to limit their use by children of up to 18 years old from one to two hours daily. The plans require smartphones to have a “minor mode” to bar them from using them as stated.
While in the UK the number of children and young people being treated for eating disorders has doubled in six years, in Malta, the number of the same category of cases seeking mental treatment has also doubled.
Last year’s study by members of the Department of Mental Health of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malta estimated that, this year, a quarter of individuals under the age of 14 were at risk of developing a mental disorder, higher than that estimated in Europe.
There is no use in restricting internet access for their children unless the parents and guardians themselves do so, at least in the child’s presence- Anthony Saliba
I am in no doubt about the detrimental impact that modern technology is having on our children. A virtual life is not a life well lived.
We are losing our short-term memories and social skills. Too much social media is like an energy vampire which, in time, will make those persons feel inadequate about their lives.
In days gone by, circa the mid-1950s, when I had the experience of teaching primary school children in a village (Tal-Mensija) and Valletta (Auberge de Bavière), one could realise the difference in children between one school and another.
There was a significantly different attitude to education between rural and urban born-and-bred pupils.
The former type were sanctimonious during and after school hours while the latter (not all) were the urchin-type students. This has changed to an almost common, non-sociable era of children growing up without caring to seek their seniors’ advice.
Today, they know it all. Parents may feel small when dealing with their own children but I blame the same parents for this situation. They should lead by example.
As I write, the UK parliament has passed a bill forbidding people, born in 2009 and after, to buy cigarettes. This means that the law forbids 15-year-olds and under from buying cigarettes.
Similar action could be taken to limit and control the excessive use of smartphones by minors.
There is no use in restricting internet access for their children unless the parents and guardians themselves do so, at least in the child’s presence.
In Malta, we do not expect any State intervention to make this happen – families and individuals, to start with, should be the ones imposing those limits on themselves.
Let’s make an effort to keep asylum doors ajar, if not completely closed, for our up-and-coming generation.
Anthony Saliba is an author and critic.