Social media use has also contributed to a increasing sleep deprivation among young people, which could both be a symptom of mental illness and also raise the risk of it developing, she added.
Author.Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Notre Dame AustraliaDisclosure statementCamilla Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partnersprovides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.The Conversation UK receives funding from these organisationsRepublish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence. The idea of a generation gap is an old one, but the discrepancies between young people’s lived experience and other people’s perceptions present a very contemporary challenge. Today The Conversation begins a series, Another Country: Youth in Australia, which considers key aspects of being a young Australian and the consequences of public misrepresentations, ignorance or indifference for the nation’s future.If you have been you may be gripped by the rising tide of panic about a younger generation who – apparently – threaten the very fabric of our society.Young Australians are lazy, narcissistic and dishonest. They do not do what they are told.
They are, sponges and who are – apparently – unable and unwilling to.They cannot spell. They cannot name the capital of this country.
They wear their pants hanging down around their arses, their undies on the outside and are always blasting crappy music through their earphones as they tweet.This younger generation has been profiled in bestselling works such as (subtitle Living in the Age of Entitlement). These books argue that they suffer from a seeming inability to understand complex ideas or make rational judgements.Today’s youth are and political disinterest. They occupy a twilight world defined by Instagram and hashtags. They are only interested in themselves – hence, their signature gesture is.Worst of all, they are said to be darkening our world with an epidemic of misbehaviour. When they are not, they are murdering each other – or innocent passers-by – and coward punches.