经济学人精读 The Economist [50]
选自 | January 13 2018 | Leaders | 社论板块
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我是Eva
一个认真学习英语的美少女
#Eva导读#
有很多家长认为沉迷于手机和社交网络，是他们的孩子变得焦虑甚至产生自杀行为的原因，并想通过减少他们使用手机和社交媒体的时间来解决这一问题。然而，研究表明，沉迷手机和社交网路与青少年的焦虑感并无因果关系，家长们在这一问题的解决办法上是错误的。那么，家长应该怎么做？事实证明，让孩子们多和小伙伴出去玩耍上街溜达是一个好办法，但是，现在越来越少的青少年这么做了。一是由于现在家长对孩子们的过度保护，二是出于社会压力。因此，孩子们变得不再像从前那么快乐。此外，经济萧条和就业竞争的压力也是青少年焦虑的另一个原因。虽然学校为了减轻学生压力减少了家庭作业的时间，但是一些孩子们却将更多的空闲时间花在了看手机上。
#以上，个人总结和理解，欢迎批评指正，欢迎留言讨论
#有输出才有进步
A generation’s mood[一代人的情绪]
Teens and screens[青少年和屏幕]
Cutting adolescents’ use of smartphones and social media is a poor solution to their problems[减少青少年使用智能手机和社交媒体是解决他们问题的下策]
FIRST they went for tobacco, coal and sugar[一开始，他们会接触烟草，煤和糖]. Now they are targeting smartphones and social media[现在他们开始涉及智能手机和社交媒体]. On January 6thtwo large investors in Apple demanded that the technology company must help parents curtail[减少，限制]their children’s iPhone use, citing research into the links between adolescent social-media habits and risk factors for suicide, such as depression[1月6日，两大苹果投资商要求科技公司必须帮助家长限制他们的孩子对苹果手机的使用，并引用了青少年社交媒体习惯和像抑郁这种自杀风险因素之间关系的研究]. Old and new media abound with[有充足的…]reports about phones’addictive, mind-warping[扭曲]properties[新老媒体都充分报道了有关手机成瘾，意识扭曲的现象]. On the school run, parents compare tactics for limiting screen time[接送上下学时，家长们比较着限制看屏幕时间的技巧].
Something has made today's teenagers different from teenagers in the past[有些东西使得现在的青少年与过去的青少年不同]. As well as being far more temperate[（行为）有节制的]and better-behaved, they seem more anxious and unhappy[虽然他们变得更加节制和守规矩，但他们看起来更加焦虑和不快乐]. School surveys by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, suggest that 15-year-olds find it harder to make friends[经济合作与发展组织（OECD），一个主要由富裕国家组成的俱乐部，调查学校的研究表明，15岁的孩子发现交到朋友更加困难]. In America—though,phone-bashers[抨击手机的人]should note, not in the rich world as awhole—suicides of young people are up[在美国，尽管不是在整个富裕的世界，抨击手机的人应该注意到了年轻人的自杀率在上升].
Before stampeding[狂奔]for the off switch, parents and others should ask two questions[在狂奔着关掉开关之前，家长和其他人应该问两个问题]. First, are iPhones, Instagram and so on actually to blame for adolescents’ problems[第一，苹果手机，即时和其他等等是真的应该受到青少年问题的指责吗]? Second, will curtailing their use do much good[第二，过多的限制他们使用是好事吗]? On the available evidence, the answers are, respectively, maybe and no[根据已有的证据，答案分别是有可能和不是].
Some studies of Britain and America, which conduct large surveys of young people, have found correlations between heavy technology use and unhappiness[一些来自英国和美国研究，针对年轻人进行了大量的调查，调查发现了重度科技使用和不快乐的相互关系]. Correlation is notcausation[因果关系], however: it could be that unhappy people seek refuge[慰藉，庇护]online[然而，并不是因果关系，而是，不快乐的人在网上寻找慰藉]. And the correlations are very weak[并且，关系是微弱的]. Only about 1% of the variability[易变，变化的倾向]in young people’s mental wellbeing can be explained by social-media or smartphone use[年轻人的心理健康的变化仅有1%可以用社交媒体或者智能手机的使用解释]. One British study suggests that eating breakfast regularly is more than three times as important[英国的一个研究表明，有规律的吃早餐的重要性比这重要三倍还多].
Perhaps technology has messedup[感到迷茫，困惑]all young people, even those who abstain from[节制]it[有可能科技使所有年轻人感到困惑，尽管有人加以节制]. Maybe it makes everyone feel left out[忽略], or thwarts[反对]all intimate connections[亲密关系]: if your friend is always looking at her phone, it may not matter much whether you are[有可能科技使得每个人感觉被忽略了，或者拒绝所有的亲密关系：如果你的朋友总是看她的手机，那么你是否在看手机可能就不重要了]. But if the effects are so amorphous[不定形的]it is hard to know what to do[但如果后果是不确定的，那么就很难知道怎么解决了]. Should parents gang up on[联合起来反对] teenagers as a group and enforce a universal crackdown[处罚][家长们应该联合起来组队反对青少年，并且实施统一处罚吗]? Should they deal with the inevitable[不可避免的]charge of unfairness by applying the same restrictions to themselves[他们应该通过将同样的限制应用到他们自己身上以解决不公平带来的不可避免的代价吗]? Good luck withthat[只能祝他们好运了].
Parents who worry about their teenage offspring (which is to say, all parents) can do something, however[然而，那些担心他们十几岁的孩子的家长（也就是说，所有有的家长），是可以有所行动的]. Prod[敦促]them out of the house, and worry a bit less about what they get up to[做，干][敦促他们到室外，并且少担心一些他们在做什么]. There is plenty of evidence for the cheering effects of hanging out with friends[有太多的证据证实跟朋友出去溜达带来的令人欢呼的效果]. Yet youngsters are doing less of this[但是，年轻人们已经很少这么做了]. Over protective parents are probably one reason[过度保护的家长可能是其中一个原因].
Social pressure isanother[社会压力是另一个原因]. It is revealing of broader attitudes that, in Britain, “teenagers hanging out on the streets” is a standard measure of antisocial[不合群不爱社交] behaviour [在英国，这揭露了一个普遍的态度，“在大街上溜达的年轻人”是一个不爱交际行为的衡量标准]. The authoritativeCrime Survey of England and Wales asks people whether it is a problem where they live, alongside things such as drug dealing and burnt-out cars[英格兰和威尔士的权威犯罪调查，询问人们，在他们住的地方，周边毒品交易和被烧毁的汽车是否是一个问题]. That the rate of adolescent hanging-out has dropped from 33% to 16% in ten years may please criminologists[犯罪学家], but is unlikely to signal happier teenagers[青少年上街溜达的人数在十年里从33%下降到了16%，这可能对犯罪学家是高兴的事，但是，不大可能看到更快乐的青少年了].
Put them to work[让他们去工作]
A last cause of teenageangst[焦虑]could be the economy and the job market[最后一个青少年焦虑的原因可能是经济和就业市场]. The great recession hit young people harder than others[大萧条对青少年的打击比对其他人更为严重]. Some teenagers believe they face crushing[非常严重的]competition, not only from their peers but from foreigners and robots[一些青少年认为他们面临着严峻的竞争，不仅来自他们的同伴，也来自外国人和机器人]. All the more[更加，越发]reason for governments to work on improving schools and to get rid of job protection for older workers[使得政府更加有理由提升学校工作，并去掉了对老员工的工作保护]. Teenagers, for their part, could probably handle a bit more work[青少年们，在他们这边，可能也有更多的工作要做]. Even though homework is associated with higher test scores, it declined by an hour a week across the OECD between 2003 and 2012, from six hours to five[尽管家庭作业与更高的分数相关，但是，在经济合作与发展组织国家中在2003年到2012年间，家庭作业时间每周减少了一小时，从6小时到5小时]. Some put in that much time on their phones in a single day[有些人在一天中把这么多的时间花在手机上].
Jan 15 | 636 words
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我是Eva
一个认真学习英语的美少女