Why are teens around the globe feeling lonelier than ever?

According to research being carried out in the US, the rise in the number of young people feeling lonely over the past decade matches the growing popularity of smartphones. But, is tech alone behind the trend?

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  Teens around the globe are feeling lonelier than ever, that's according to research being carried out in the US. The reports authors say the rise in the number of young people feeling lonely over the past decade matches the growing popularity of smartphones. But, is tech alone behind the trend? Dr Bailey Bosch is here with more on this, thanks for joining us.

  Thank you for having me. 

  Are teens really feeling lonely? I mean popular belief would be that smartphones allow everyone to feel more connected.

  Well, we have to keep in mind, like anything, a smartphone is a tool. So, if it's used properly, if it's used in moderation, if our use on there is healthy and nourishing and is enriching our life, then yes, we can feel more connected. But when it is used maybe as the only way of connecting, or the only place to go and find people to talk to or communities to belong to, then yes, it can certainly contribute to the increasing loneliness in this age group.

  The research also found that girls are at higher risk. What do we know about that? 

  The difficulty we have, especially as they get to teen years, is girls are dropping out of more community-based things. We know sport participation drops in teenage years. That's often a place where girls, kids in general, can find community, can find friends, can find connection. And if that number drops too for girls, it becomes an increasing problem.

  What is the impact of loneliness on teens emotionally and physically? 

  So, you have your physical difficulties, of course. We can have an increase in psychosomatic, you know, presentation. There can be more, you know, "I've got a tummy, my head hurts," a feeling of sickness that's unexplained, you know, plenty of trips to the doctors, but no one can get to the bottom of it. And then, of course, that feeling of "nobody likes me, I've got no friends," and it's a bit of a cycle that kids can get into.

  Is tech alone to blame, or do parents have a role here? 

  Oh, parents certainly have a role. You know, we all have a role to play as a community. We have a role to play. We want kids off devices, but then if they congregate at shopping centres, for example, we don't want groups of kids hanging around. We call it unsocial behaviour. After dark if they're at the, you know, the local food halls and stuff, we complain then. So, we all have a role to play. 

  Parents especially, if we want to talk about what our kids are doing, what our teens are doing, we do certainly need to take a good look at ourselves and what, you know, what behaviour we're role modelling.

  It is difficult to find an answer though, isn't it? Because you can't just remove the phones from teens' lives. 

  No, that's a sort of simplistic and a bit of an unsophisticated approach. It's, you know, the report says loneliness increases with screen use. Well, let's take the screens away. The screens can be a useful tool, as I said. It's a way to connect, it's a way to make friends with people you might not come across in everyday life. But equally, if we know loneliness comes from a feeling of, you know, misunderstood, "nobody knows what it's like to be me," and then you go and take the phone away, the phone's a social currency. It keeps them atop of the latest trends, the platforms. If we take that away, it just proves, "well, you oldies don't know what it's like to be a kid nowadays." Increases loneliness.

  Is there a way for parents to involve their kids' friend groups? 

  Okay, so I would be a little bit cautious with that. You need to make sure that they are the friends your kids want to be involved with. You know, we come from little children where we arrange playdates. Check with the teens, check what they want your role to be. We need to understand that they have grown up, they've got a sense of agency. Let's involve them in the solution rather than giving them a solution, and it's just another thing where they think parents don't understand.

  Dr. Bailey Bosch, appreciate your expert opinion. Look forward to chatting with you again soon. 

  Thank you.