Why We Need To Teach Our Kids To Risk The Outside World

Humans are social animals. At least, we used to be. Starting in 2020, though, we started spending more time home alone, and not in the sense of hilariously fighting Harry Lyme and Marv Murchins in their attempts to burgle our houses. Granted, for that particular year, many of us were legally precluded from socializing. Others were gripped by fear that sharing a drink and a bowl of dip with a friend might kill us, but that time is long past, save for lesbian bars in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

As with so many of the effects of the pandemic, the persistent issues are most present in younger people, those who were shoved into their rooms and in front of screens during extremely formative years. Whereas adults aged 55 to 64 are only partying 13% less than they used to, for those aged 15 to 24, the decline is a whopping 69%. Given that we’re more depressed and medicated than ever before, and that fewer people are making babies than ever before, the future requires us to reverse these trends.