Belligerent mobs of elite college students once again occupy campuses across the country. This week, masked coeds at Columbia <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-student-protests-war-8b0d3a0cedb17f5e892c6ca43bbdf628?taid=6630d2f051bd250001c21790&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shattered</a> windows in an academic building, barricaded themselves inside, and hung an intifada flag out the window. Like the pride, BLM, and trans, flags before it, the message was clear: we want a new regime in charge and it’s not the one reflected in the stars and stripes.
The spokesman for the university, Ben Chang, <a href="https://communications.news.columbia.edu/news/campus-updates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that the encampments, vandalism, and occupation “violated numerous University policies.” What these students did not violate, however, is the religious zeal of a progressive agenda that has permeated their education from the cradle to the cap and gown. When the moral mission passed down to you by your educators is to disrupt, destabilize, and make a mess — violating an establishment policy is an opportunity, not an obstacle.
Despite the millions in endowments funding Higher Ed’s hallowed halls, such institutions are in a freefall of utter moral and intellectual bankruptcy. As Warren Buffet once <a href="https://buffett.cnbc.com/video/1994/04/25/buffett-you-dont-find-out-whos-been-swimming-naked-until-the-tide-goes-out.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked:</a> &#8220;You don&#8217;t find out who&#8217;s been swimming naked until the tide goes out.&#8221;
The craven corruption gambling away our future is not new; it is just exposed. Many in education have been running a con. They leveraged our future for their totalizing political scam that dehumanizes those it is meant to educate. It is an anti-education — not meant to form students in the freedom that comes from intellectual and moral virtues but rather to deform and reengineer them to be programmable pawns of cultural disruption.
You give them your best. They send back students who don’t believe in the moral law but are full of moral outrage. 
You send them your brightest. They give back 22-year-olds who do not believe in truth but are certain everyone else is wrong. Especially you, dad.
In a way, students are quite right to be angry. Someone has spent an unseemly amount of money to strip them of their cultural inheritance leaving them with a poverty that is far deeper than a pocketbook. It is a bankrupting of their interior life: a poverty of the life of their mind and soul and a robbing of their capacity to experience reverence and wonder.
Cultural revolutionaries have long understood that investing their power and influence into the school system would seed the ticking time bomb of a destabilizing critical consciousness into the future. The point was not just the obvious divisiveness that results, but also the relocation of the moral impulse from the development of virtue into the adoption of victimhood.
A victim identity appeals to a perennial human temptation to deflect from our faults and failures. Seeing acutely the fault in others is much more enticing than seeing it accurately in ourselves. But success in marriage, friendship, the workplace, or in any sort of community requires persons who develop the muscle to self-examine. If you want someone to flourish in life, you teach them responsibility.
If you want someone to fail — or even an entire society to fail — teach people to develop a grievance mindset. Once they believe that society is defined by division and that the <a href="https://x.com/noellem/status/1729216841464373437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oppressed are always the protagonists</a>, they will seek to maintain their moral stature through the perpetuation of conflict and the unmasking of error in others. Every permanent victim must also be an incessant accuser. Once an accuser identity is internalized it prowls about the world looking for someone to devour. In other words, for the students-turned-foot-soldiers, it matters very little which flag they fly so long as it injects them with some borrowed moral currency.
Sterilizing kids is rightly a grave concern amid the trans madness that <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/23/schools-new-misgendering-rules-will-create-compliant-fearful-children-perfect-for-totalitarianism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flows</a> from this same woke spigot, but this is another sort of sterility that is less obvious but no less grave.
This process of deformation starts much earlier and younger than Higher Ed, as I’ve <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/the-sadness-of-the-woke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detailed</a> elsewhere. The personal and social chaos that comes of it will not stop by just shutting down this or that protest. Authorities may finally clear away the encampments and suspend or expel the ring leaders. They can put out statements and assuage donor concerns. But none of this means the needed course correction is happening nor does it heal the hollowed out inner life of a generation that will wait in desperation for the next whiff of outrage so that they might feel that they are alive once again.
Unless we understand how entrenched this ideology is we will continue to ride its cycles and busts. Let’s cheer then for the wins that speak to the source of this present poison in a way that eliminates it root and branch. There are many of them – from the mass exodus out of public schools to the greater and well-deserved attention turning to the <a href="https://udallas.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many</a> <a href="https://franciscan.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">good</a> <a href="https://www.hillsdale.edu/?utm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools</a> that <a href="https://www.thomasaquinas.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">know</a> what it takes to form the future. The <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-long-march-through-the-soul/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long march</a> through the institutions has finally been less about institutional capture than it has been about the capture of the interior life of the human soul. Building and rebuilding whole human beings is the necessary restoration that is beyond calculation and the one pivotal investment into our future that we cannot fail to make.
* * *
Noelle Mering is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. She is author of &#8220;Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology,&#8221; co-author of the &#8220;Theology of Home&#8221; book series, and editor at TheologyofHome.com. Noelle is a wife and a mother of six children.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Police Confront Pro-Palestinian Protesters At CCNY

Educational Bankruptcy: Progressive Religious Zeal And The Rise Of Victimhood

American Universities

College

Education

Gen Z

Opinion

Protests

Readers Pass

Woke Culture

The &#8216;Ragin&#8217; Cajun&#8217; lived up to his old nickname in a recent video, scolding and berating younger Americans and telling them all the horrible things he believed would happen if former President Donald Trump won another term in the White House.
James Carville, longtime Democrat strategist, raised eyebrows with his predictions and his outright attacks on the younger voters he was apparently trying to win over to his side.
&#8220;If they get ahold, there will be no government left, there will be no rights left, you will live under theocracy, you&#8217;ll end up with Christian Nationalism. But that&#8217;s alright you little f***ing 26-year-old, you don&#8217;t feel like the election&#8217;s &#8216;important to me, they&#8217;re not addressing the issues I care about.'&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
James Carville threatening young people to vote for Biden: &quot;[If Trump wins] There will be no government left, there will be no rights left, you will live under theocracy, you&#39;ll end up with Christian Nationalism. But that&#39;s alright you little fucking 26 year old, you don&#39;t feel… <a href="https://t.co/vixpjLRzc2">pic.twitter.com/vixpjLRzc2</a>
&mdash; Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricAbbenante/status/1784749016321765780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Carville&#8217;s comments came on the heels of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-cnn-poll-spells-likely-disaster-for-biden-as-election-looms-nearer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devastating CNN poll</a> that spelled trouble for President Joe Biden&#8217;s reelection campaign — a poll in which well over half the respondents (61%) said that Biden&#8217;s presidency so far has been a failure and 55% viewed the Trump years as a success.
Carville, who worked alongside ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos during former President Bill Clinton&#8217;s 1992 campaign, said that he had been <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/james-carville-mocks-young-voters-sour-biden-says-f-you-key-bloc-voters?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hearing complaints</a> — particularly from younger voters — about the fact that Biden and Trump were getting up there in years.
&#8220;James, young voters are just not into this. It’s two candidates, one’s in their 80s, one is almost in their 80s, they’re concerned about things that Washington politicians, and you just can’t blame them for &#8230;&#8221; MSNBC&#8217;s Ari Melber commented before Carville erupted. &#8220;Oh, s***. F*** you!&#8221; he said, arguing that young Americans needed to suck it up and vote anyway.
&#8220;Are you watching what is happening in the Supreme Court?&#8221; the longtime Democrat strategist asked. &#8220;If you’re 26, do you see what they’re doing? First of all, they’re gonna take every right that you could possibly have away from you &#8230; Don&#8217;t teach anybody that the current Supreme Court has any moral or legal legitimacy. It doesn&#8217;t. It&#8217;s in there because of contrivements, and it&#8217;s in there because of weakness and cowardice.&#8221;

Key Speakers At The Politicon Political Convention

Democrat Strategist Says What He Really Thinks Of Gen Z, And It’s Not Pretty

Democrat

James Carville

Media

Politics

“Dirty Jobs” host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mike-rowe">Mike Rowe</a> weighed in on the future of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges">higher education</a>, saying he believes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gen-z">Gen Z</a> will become &#8220;the next toolbelt generation.”
The 62-year-old recently appeared on Fox News’ &#8220;One Nation with Brian Kilmeade” to discuss a recent Wall Street Journal report highlighting increased enrollment into vocational training programs.
Kilmeade asked Rowe to comment on the data, which comes from the National Student Clearinghouse. It showed a 16% increase in overall enrollment for vocational-focused community colleges compared to 2022. The Journal also noted an increase of 23% for students pursuing construction jobs and a 7% rise in students enrolled in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and vehicle repair.
While the “Dirty Jobs” star said he wasn’t “ready for the victory lap” after seeing the data, he said that he believes Gen Z is more willing to consider trades, which he believes is positive.
“The color of collars is no longer the thing it used to be,” Rowe said, referencing the classification of blue-collar versus white-collar workers. “I just don’t think it matters.”
“The idea that the generation that has become the biggest target for entitlements and a lack of work ethic… I mean, these guys are an easy target. They’re snowflakes, essentially. But… we’re the clouds from which the snowflakes fell. And whatever you want to say about Gen Z, they will be the next toolbelt generation. Because the evidence demands a verdict,” he continued. 
The Discovery Channel host went on to mention the exorbitant cost of college as a significant driver for the switch. 
“And these kids have been around, and they’re seeing $94,000 a year at Tufts,” he went on. “They&#8217;re seeing all of the craziness… Brown and Dartmouth and Harvard. They&#8217;re seeing a $52 billion endowment at Harvard. They&#8217;re seeing all the craziness that&#8217;s constantly in the headlines,&#8221; Rowe said. &#8220;And they&#8217;re just saying, &#8216;Look, why do I want to start a career in a major I haven&#8217;t even declared yet and go that far into debt to pursue a job that probably doesn&#8217;t even exist, when we got 10,000 other jobs over here… that don&#8217;t require a four-year degree?'&#8221;
At another point in the conversation, Rowe mentioned how he finds it interesting that in the past, people worried about blue-collar jobs being replaced with technology, but now, with the popularity of AI, more are concerned about white-collar industries changing.
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&#8220;The automation thing, you know, it&#8217;s funny — not ‘ha-ha’ funny, but interesting that the idea that the robots are coming to displace all of these so-called blue-collar jobs that have been around for 15 years,&#8221; Rowe said. &#8220;Now it&#8217;s AI, and the target is more white-collar jobs.&#8221;
&#8220;Look, plumbers are not going to be outsourced,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, the people my foundation tries to assist — they have a level of job security that the article in the Journal is referencing, and it&#8217;s a big deal, because those jobs have always been here for the last 20 years, as long as I&#8217;ve been doing this, they&#8217;ve been open, and it&#8217;s starting to tip where we&#8217;re literally turning a tanker around with regard to perceptions.&#8221;

Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe Reacts To Rise In Skilled Trade Enrollment, Calls Gen Z ‘The Next Toolbelt Generation’

Mike Rowe Reacts To Increase In Skilled Trade Enrollment, Calls Gen Z 'The Next Toolbelt Generation' 

Celebrities

Jobs

U.S.

One of the world&#8217;s most popular board games is being altered to be less competitive and more &#8220;inclusive&#8221; to appeal to young people.
Scrabble&#8217;s parent company Mattel announced the move Tuesday, the first major change in 75 years.
The new version will involve “a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible for anyone who finds word games intimidating,” Mattel said in a press release, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/09/business/scrabble-together-game-scli-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNN.
The classic word game will debut a new way to play the game called &#8220;Scrabble Together&#8221; on the flip side of the game board. The other side will have the original game.
Scrabble Together was designed to appeal to a younger generation of players who are less interested in competition. Mattel <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/09/business/scrabble-together-game-scli-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it conducted research that showed Gen Z board gamers in Britain were less competitive than older generations.
“The game speaks to a trend in younger people who want to avoid competitive games, instead favouring teamwork and collaboration working towards a fun goal together,” said Brett Smitheram, who is the current number one Scrabble player in the UK and the 2016 World Scrabble Champion, as part of the statement.
The new version <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will have</a> goal cards rather than scoring. It will also have helper cards with prompts and clues as well as an option to play on teams. It will also be a shorter game overall.
“The way we use words is constantly evolving and so is Scrabble, which is why the iconic game has created a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible,” Mattel <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
In the new version, goal cards have different challenge levels and offer challenges like, “Play a horizontal word,” “play a three-letter word,” or “play a word that touches the edge of the board.”
The winner is the player who completes 20 challenges. The loser is the player who uses all their helper cards without completing a challenge.
Scrabble was invented in 1938 and has become one of the most popular board games in the world over the better part of a century.
“Scrabble has truly stood the test of time as one of the most popular board games in history, and we want to ensure the game continues to be inclusive for all players,” Ray Adler, vice president and global head of games for Mattel <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the New York Post.
“For anyone who’s ever thought ‘word games aren’t for me’, or felt a little intimidated by the classic game, Scrabble Together mode is an ideal option,” Adler said. “Scrabble Together Mode continues to celebrate the wonder of words just as the Classic version does, but thanks to its exciting new co-operative and dynamic gameplay, it’s more accessible and brings people together.”
The new version of the game will be available in Europe but not in the U.S. since Mattel does not hold the license there.

Family playing scrabble at dining table

Classic Board Game Dumbed Down To Be More ‘Inclusive,’ Less ‘Intimidating’ To Young People

Classic Board Game Dumbed Down To Be More 'Inclusive,' Less 'Intimidating' To Young People

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Generation Z

Generation Z and younger millennials have the misfortune of being ready to buy a home amid a prohibitively expensive housing market.
As the youngest generation of adults looks to buy their first home, they&#8217;re finding it&#8217;s often cheaper to just keep renting than to invest in a mortgage right now.
Some are waiting out the unwelcoming housing market with a seemingly endless cycle of rent payments, but some are biting the bullet and purchasing now.
&#8220;We bought so our money wouldn&#8217;t go to someone else&#8217;s mortgage,&#8221; a Gen Z homeowner and new mother of a baby boy in Virginia told The Daily Wire.
She and her husband wanted to own land, she said. They plan on putting a few extra thousand dollars toward the principal of their mortgage every year, and they also invested in a larger down payment to get a lower fixed interest rate.
&#8220;There are ways to manipulate the system, but again, you usually need some money up front to do so,&#8221; she said.
She added that there is &#8220;a lot of ignorance&#8221; among young home buyers.
&#8220;Every young homeowner I have spoken to looks like a deer in the headlights when I mention how crazy it is that your interest rate can end up costing you at least double the cost of the house across 30 years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And most people don&#8217;t realize they are paying mostly interest during the early mortgage years and the bulk of the principal later on. Works great for the loaners.&#8221;
Despite the challenges, there have been big upsides to owning a home, she said.
&#8220;Homeownership has made us feel unrestricted in our homemaking and privacy,&#8221; the mom said.
A Gen Z man who is getting married this summer in the Washington, D.C., area said he is planning to wait a year or two before buying a house. His fiancée, a younger millennial already owns a condo, and they plan to hang onto that property as the value goes up, although they hope to move into a second home once they have their first child.
&#8220;A medium to large-sized house is pretty much guaranteed to be a million bucks,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The &#8216;350k or lower&#8217; dream is kind of out the window &#8230; After a quick glance at the market a couple months ago, it looks like the expectation is 700k or more, and that&#8217;s before all that yucky interest.&#8221;
Home prices <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/housing-affordability-crisis-states-00150463#:~:text=Income%20Housing%20Coalition.-,Home%20prices%20are%20up%2047%20percent%20since%20January%202020%2C%20and,and%20fewer%20people%20over%20time." target="_blank" rel="noopener">are up</a> 47% since the beginning of 2020, while rent is up more than 20%. Homelessness has spiked as well, rising 12% in 2022, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/housing-affordability-crisis-states-00150463#:~:text=Income%20Housing%20Coalition.-,Home%20prices%20are%20up%2047%20percent%20since%20January%202020%2C%20and,and%20fewer%20people%20over%20time." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Renting a two-bedroom residence is now actually cheaper than buying that property for about 89% of Americans, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231128140139/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/11/28/is-it-cheaper-to-rent-or-buy-property" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a November analysis by The Economist.
Back in 2020, that was true for only 16% of Americans.
Meanwhile, the housing crash that many potential home buyers <a href="https://www.inman.com/2023/11/28/35-of-americans-hope-the-housing-market-will-crash-in-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hoped</a> for does not look likely to happen. In November, nearly half of Americans, 44% said they thought the housing market could crash in the next year, according to a LendingTree consumer survey. Economists say they do not expect a housing crash either this year or even in 2025.
In fact, house prices are expected to keep rising as much as 4.1% this year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/housing-market-predictions-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage prices are expected to dip but not by much, and rent prices will likely remain about the same due to a glut of newly built apartment buildings with low demand.
Nevertheless, the tough market has not stopped millennials and even some Gen Z-ers from buying homes, perhaps simply because they are fed up with waiting for the market to turn in their favor.
About 38% of all home buyers were millennials last year, <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/home-buyer-and-seller-generational-trends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a report from the National Association of Realtors, up from 28% in the previous year. Among younger millennials ages 25 to 33, 75% were buying a home for the first time.
The younger Gen Z buyers ages 18 to 24 made up only 3% of home buyers last year, showcasing both the difficulty of breaking into the housing market at a young age as well as the tendency of today&#8217;s young adults to wait before tying themselves down to one property.
Baby Boomers, the wealthiest generation is also contributing to the housing shortage by staying put in their current homes, reluctant to lose the lower mortgage rates they locked in during less expensive years. Previously, older generations would typically move into smaller homes as they aged, freeing up inventory for younger families, but nearly 40% of Boomers have lived in their home for at least 20 years, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/blame-baby-boomers-housing-shortage-redfin-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Redfin.
This shortage is causing any property that does go on the market to sell quickly at very high prices, often above the asking price.
Despite the daunting circumstances, some younger buyers remain optimistic, although they have adjusted their expectations.
The engaged Gen Z-er said he remains hopeful that he and his fiancée will find something they both love.
&#8220;I basically just want a three-bedroom house with a large backyard and some quiet. It exists, but it&#8217;s just a lot more than I thought it was,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My plan is to put a really big down payment on whatever we get.&#8221;

Home for sale with real estate sign

Gen Z, Young Millennials Debate Endless Rent Or Sky-High Mortgages

Economy

Housing

Inflation

Millennials

Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at NYU-Stern, said in an interview this week that smartphones and social media have led to numerous problems for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gen-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gen Z</a>.
Haidt made the remarks while speaking to &#8220;Firing Line&#8221; with host Margaret Hoover about his new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.”
He explained that &#8220;the great rewiring&#8221; refers to a five-year period between 2010 and 2015 when society fundamentally changed for adolescents with the emergence of smartphones and social media.
&#8220;In 2010, adolescents had flip phones. They had no, most did not have high speed internet,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Over the next five years, by 2015, most American teens have a smartphone with a front-facing camera, high speed internet. They have an Instagram account or other social media accounts, Snapchat, a bunch of other ones. And now, in 2015, it’s possible to spend almost every waking hour online, and many do. And so my argument in the book is that all of a sudden, boom, in the blink of an eye, childhood became about sitting down and looking at a screen, hour after hour, year after year. And that, I believe, is the major reason why rates of mental illness go skyrocketing around 2012, 2013.&#8221;
He said that the very concept of social media — posting things that make you stand out because &#8220;you’re desperately fighting for attention&#8221; — has been detrimental to adolescents because they are learning these behaviors during puberty.
&#8220;So the millennials were basically through puberty by the time this great rewiring happens. That’s why they’re okay, I believe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The definition of Gen Z, I would say &#8230; is that they went through puberty on super viral social media, on a smartphone in their pocket, that was giving them notifications and calling them away from whatever they were doing, calling them away from people, calling them away from their friends. You can see them sitting in a lunchroom next to each other, each on their phone. That is not a way that a human being can grow up. And that all happened between 2010 and 2015.&#8221;
He said that young people&#8217;s brains were very vulnerable during this time period because it&#8217;s the time when adolescents are supposed to be shaped by the adults in their lives into knowing how to act and how make the transition into becoming an adult.
&#8220;We don’t do that. Instead, what we do is hand you this device. So this is about the worst thing you can imagine to give kids at the beginning of puberty,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And the great rewiring radically altered the inputs to children, taking away most of what they used to do, most of their older inputs, including other people, and swapping in screens.&#8221;
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He said that another mistake that parents have made is being overly protective of their children in the real world while not setting boundaries and watching them in the digital world.
&#8220;And for human children, the best kind of play is a group, mixed age group, out in the neighborhood. They make their own games. They make their own rules. They enforce their own rules. That’s how you basically mature for a democratic society,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But beginning in the 1980s, we began to get very afraid. We begin to get the milk cartons with the missing child. Even though true abduction is very rare, Americans get scared. They begin to clamp down on free play and childhood independence. And they think that they’re being good parents by always keeping them supervised. That’s the safest thing to do. Well, it is safe in the sense that external harm won’t come to them. But as rates of childhood death have gone down and down and down from all causes, they’re now going up and up and up from suicide. We’re blocking our children’s development. So this is the other half of the story, the very sudden and complete replacement of a play-based childhood with the phone-based childhood. And that’s why all of a sudden in 2012, Gen Z gets anxious and depressed.&#8221;
&#8220;There are a few things in the world that get better when you drop them, and you have to drop them periodically. You have to challenge them. They have to face obstacles,&#8221; he later added. &#8220;So muscle and bone and the immune system are all anti-fragile. If you take it easy on your muscles, take it easy on your bones, they get weak and brittle. It’s a principle of human psychology that we grow by being toughened. And so that’s why kids seek out risk. And the possibility of getting hurt is actually part of what makes it beneficial, because then they learn how to face risk and how to not get hurt. And the 90s, when we said, ‘no more risk, you’re not going to do anything that could possibly get you hurt,’ we blocked that process and our kids began getting more fragile.&#8221;
He said that the correlation between social media use and depression and anxiety are high among girls, but very low among boys.
&#8220;It took me longer to figure out what happened for boys, but it’s a very interesting and a very sad story,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Boys, it turns out, have been withdrawing from the real world since the 70s and 80s. Boys are less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to go to college, less likely to get master’s degrees, PhDs, become doctors, lawyers. Boys are dropping out of society. And a big part of that, we believe, is that the virtual world has gotten so enticing. Boys, adolescent boys, care a lot about sex. They’re really motivated to get sex, which is hard, very hard to do. You have to learn all kinds of skills, and it’s very scarce to get sex. Oh, but just go online. You have the most amazing, vivid pornography available to you. And, you know, boys love adventure. They love teamwork. They love sports, they love competing, you know, but it’s hard to make a team. And there’s all kinds of challenges there. Oh, just turn on your Xbox and you’ve got a team versus team situation. So we made life easier and easier for boys, which is a terrible thing to do to them. So they don’t exert themselves. Boys are not doing the things that would turn them into men.&#8221;
He said that when it comes to girls, &#8220;the loss of in-person time is the biggest single thing.&#8221;
&#8220;But then there’s also the constant social comparison,&#8221; he added. &#8220;If you have an 11 or 12-year-old girl on Instagram several hours a day, on TikTok several hours a day, most of what she sees is happy girls living beautiful lives. Is this going to be good for her? Hell no. So kids shouldn’t be – you know, of course, social comparison is part, part of being young, but let it be within your small group of friends. Don’t let it be among a billion people, many of whom are gorgeous and fake.&#8221;
He added that the explosion of transgenderism is a social contagion caused by social media and smartphones.
&#8220;So there’s very important, older research by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler where they looked at, they had gigantic health data sets, the Framingham Heart Study, and they were able to see that, you know, if one person takes up smoking, their friends are more likely to take up smoking, but actually, so are their friends&#8217; friends and even friends&#8217; friends&#8217; friends,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So the things we do spread out through social network, we affect each other. Now it turns out, when you’re looking at emotions, girls and women, when they study women, when a woman is depressed, that spreads out to her network. Whereas when a man is depressed, it doesn’t. Women talk about their feelings. They’re more connected in that way. Girls are connecting on social media, where it just turns out in many communities, the more anxious and depressed you are, the more you get support. The more extreme your symptoms, the more you get likes and followers. You know, of course it’s good to destigmatize social, mental illness. We don’t want people to be ashamed. But boy, is it a terrible idea to valorize it, to tell young people, ‘You know what? The more you have this, the more popular you’ll be, the more support you’ll get.’ And so you get this explosion, not just of anxiety – anxiety is in part, I think, spread sociogenically, it’s called, from social causes, not from internal causes – but we get it for dissociative identity disorder. And it seems to be the case for gender dysphoria as well.&#8221;
When asked directly if &#8220;the data demonstrates&#8221; that the increase in transgenderism &#8220;is above and beyond just the phenomenon of coming out and increased awareness,&#8221; he said, &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
&#8220;Yes. Because it happens in clusters of girls,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It happens in clusters of girls who had no previous gender dysphoria when they were young. So it’s very different from the kinds of gender dysphoria cases that we’ve known about for decades. I mean, it is a real thing. But what happened, especially when girls got &#8212; was YouTube and Instagram early, but then especially TikTok, girls just, you know, girls get sucked into these vortices and they take on each other’s purported mental illnesses.&#8221;
He said that parents need to band together and form small groups where they have the same rules for their kids so that their kids don&#8217;t feel like they are being left out by not having a smartphone or not being allowed on social media.
Hoover noted that the four main reforms that Haidt is pushing for in society is no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and significantly more unsupervised play and childhood independence.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jonathan Haidt | Full Episode 3.29.24 | Firing Line with Margaret Hoover | PBS" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-L0ae8_o5IE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Unfinished Live 2022 – Day 2

Top Psychologist Blames Smartphones, Social Media For Decay Of Gen Z, Rise Of Transgenderism

Smartphones

Social Issues

Social Media

Transgender

Generation Z is riddled with mental health issues, but some have doubts that more therapy is really the answer.
Gen Z, often defined as young people between ages 12 and 27 has worse mental health, lower self-confidence, and generally more dissatisfaction with life than older generations, one study <a href="https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/inclusion-equity-diversity/the-least-resilient-demographic-alive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> last year.
Overall, only 33% of young adults say their mental health is &#8220;excellent&#8221; or &#8220;good&#8221; compared to 48% of other adults, according to the study. Similarly, another survey from 2022 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/how-does-gen-z-see-its-place-in-the-working-world-with-trepidation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that Americans from 18 to 24 report high rates of mental health challenges, impediments to effective work, and worries about the future.
A whopping 55% of Gen Z young adults 18 to 24 also say they have either been diagnosed with or have received treatment for mental illness, well above the rate of older groups, the 2022 survey found.
The pandemic also notably increased the mental health crisis among both young adults and children.
Author Abigail Shrier posited recently that the youngest generation might be less resilient because they are encouraged to focus on their bad feelings under the guise of working them out.
&#8220;Millennials thought they could do anything. They were the Mark Zuckerberg generation,&#8221; Shrier <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z72hgYk-5iI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during an appearance on Joe Rogan&#8217;s podcast last month on the release day for her latest book, &#8220;Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren&#8217;t Growing Up.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not seeing that with these young people. They don&#8217;t want to be in charge. They&#8217;re afraid,&#8221; Shrier said.
Therapy, she suggested, might not be helping as much as we think it is.
Shrier cited studies where teens who were taught coping techniques for emotional regulation became even sadder and more anxious.
&#8220;The reason was regularly ruminating on your bad feelings can make you feel worse,&#8221; Shrier said. &#8220;The amazing story of human history is — doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s not painful, but — of resilience. They get on. They aren&#8217;t permanently suffering with mental illness.&#8221;
To be fair, some of Gen Z&#8217;s anxieties are backed in reality, such as their mounting concerns about their financial future, but this is all the more reason therapy might not be the answer to dealing with these outside problems.
Inflation has spiked over the last several years, and wage growth has not kept up. Housing prices continue to rise, making rent unaffordable in many areas for entry level workers and putting home ownership out of reach of even young people with established careers. When Gen Z looks back at their parents&#8217; and grandparents&#8217; generations they wonder whether they will ever experience financial security in the same way.
Only 37% of Gen Z workers said they believe most people in the country have economic opportunities, a data point that showcases the generation&#8217;s potent economic pessimism, the 2022 survey found. About 26% of Gen Z workers said they think their pay does not allow them a good quality of life, compared to 20% of older workers. A whopping 77% of Gen Z workers said they were looking for a new job, nearly double the rate of older workers.
Dovetailing with Gen Z&#8217;s pessimism about their financial future, they also tend to distrust political and societal institutions, including Congress, the news, the presidency, police, and large technology companies, a Gallup study from last year <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/510395/gen-voices-lackluster-trust-major-institutions.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a>. &#8220;Science&#8221; is the only institution trusted by a majority of Gen Z young people.
This distrust seems to grow as young people grow up and approach their early 20s — younger Gen Z kids ages 12 to 18 who are still in K-12 school are more trusting of institutions than those over 18.
Against this challenging economic backdrop, the newest adult generation&#8217;s lack of motivation is somewhat understandable.
However, at the same time, a slew of mental conditions have become popular content on social media including Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression. Many young people are eager to diagnose themselves and find community online with others who supposedly share their trendy condition.
While some may indeed have these conditions, critics say a dose of good, old-fashioned tough love — and maybe a social media detox — could help steer those who wrongly self-diagnosed towards a more fulfilling purpose.
On the bright side, Gen Z is <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> less likely to suffer from imposter syndrome at work, and there are signs this generation could be primed to be more optimistic and mentally healthy given the right circumstances.
Some Gen Z members <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they are eager to harness the power of social media to start influential movements, but certain things are extremely important to them including higher starting salaries and flexibility in work scheduling.
Gen Z is the largest generation in the world, making up about 32% of the 7.7 billion people on earth. They are more numerous than their older siblings the millennials and even bigger than the huge baby boomer generation.
There may not be a silver bullet to fix all their problems, but their success or failure will have an enormous effect on the future.

Rear view of woman looking out to city through window

Gen Z Has The Worst Mental Health, But Is More Therapy The Answer?

Anxiety

Depression

Health Care

Mental Health

Therapy

A couple years ago, I produced a few segments in which I answered viewers’ questions about dating. Rightly so; it’s a hot-button topic. I have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-do-you-know-theyre-the-one-candace-owens-answers-questions-on-dating" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it before</a> and I will say it again: Dating does not have to be as difficult as people make it out to be if you know what you are looking for in a significant other. So, I am revisiting some questions I have received over time to answer and give my thoughts.
<h4>Q: What are your thoughts on saving kissing for marriage?</h4>
My husband and I did not kiss until after we were engaged; however, that was mainly because of logistics and how quickly we got engaged. I don’t think kissing before marriage is a problem, and I don’t think it’s wrong to kiss someone before you get married. Ultimately, I would never expect someone to save kissing for marriage.
<h4>Q: What are your suggestions for a relationship in a rut with a lot of frustrations?</h4>
Some of the greatest words of wisdom I ever heard about being in a relationship was: When you’re dating someone, that is as good as it’s ever going to get. Many people believe if your relationship gets in a rut, marriage will be the solution to get out of that rut. They think <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-important-message-to-women-everywhere" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once you get married</a> and once you have children, the relationship will magically turn into “happily ever after.” (Women in particular hold this perspective, thinking that as soon as they get the ring, things will get better.) But that’s just not true. When you’re dating, you experience an emotional high, the relationship is fairly smooth, and you’re genuinely excited. If you start to see that taper off before you’re married, pay attention to those signs. You may not have found the person you’re meant to do life with.
<h4><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e9N_e6L7Xk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Candace&#8217;s full segment on dating</a></h4>
<h4>Q: As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-vulnerability-that-will-plague-generation-tiktoks-future">a Gen Zer</a>, I wonder where I can find masculine men?</h4>
This problem is in large part due to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-a-story-all-about-how-the-fresh-prince-did-not-become-a-king" target="_blank" rel="noopener">culture telling men</a> to be more effeminate — and I’m sure that’s super frustrating. <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/make-men-manly-again-t-shirt?_pos=1&amp;_sid=4ee384564&amp;_ss=r" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(Make men manly again.)</a> But what you will find is that the more effeminate men live in city bubbles, but when you move into the rest of America, you will run into farmers, rangers, men who are working with their hands, and masculine men. Masculine men do exist.
<h4>Q: Do you keep in touch with or follow any exes?</h4>
Absolutely not. I am incredibly conservative when it comes to this issue. If you are in a relationship with another man, it’s super disrespectful — especially in a marriage — to maintain a relationship with a previous partner. I have never gone along with the “it used to be more but now we’re just friends” bit either. This is a definite no for me.
<h4>Q: I seem to be more mature than guys my age which makes it hard to date and find someone who will commit. Any tips?</h4>
This is fairly common. Men take a bit longer to mature than women, but, on average, they seem to mature somewhere in their mid-twenties. There are always exceptions, but as a general rule, younger men just tend to be a little more immature than younger women. There are likely some biological aspects to this because, for example, women likely mature quicker because we have to carry children on a biological clock’s dictations. But even little girls like playing with dolls while little boys like to rough house. Men do, however, eventually grow into being ready to commit and in a serious relationship.
<h4>Q: What is the best place to meet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/three-new-years-resolutions-for-women-on-the-internet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quality women</a> who aren’t fickle?</h4>
This answer is short and simple: church.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/candace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Candace Owens</a></h4>
<h4>Q: I have been with the same man for eight years. I called off our engagement because he’s still not ready, but we can’t seem to leave each other. Advice?</h4>
Leave. I knew two girls who went through a similar situation (relationships of about ten years each), and they both ended poorly. These women gave these men their best years. Meanwhile, men tend to age like fine wine — plus, they don’t have to worry so much about their reproductive vitality. That’s not the case for women. So, if you are giving someone years to make a decision and his decision is still “I don’t want to make a decision,” you are, unfortunately, a placeholder. He will likely meet another girl, get engaged quickly, and you will be left wondering what happened to the last decade of your life. I feel so terrible for women who have gone through this. But in both cases with the two women I knew, they knew they should have left earlier, but they didn’t muster the strength to do it. Have the strength to do it. Leave. Don’t be someone else’s placeholder.
<h4>Q: There is a girl I like, but I’m nervous to ask her on a date. How should I ask?</h4>
Just ask her. The worst thing that can happen is that she says no. And while you’ll have a bruised ego for a couple of days, you will have done something manly in the long run. Girls are missing men asking them on dates — men who hold doors and have the confidence to ask women on dates rather than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-everyone-hates-online-dating" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hiding behind apps</a> of Instagram DMs. Ask her to grab lunch or see a movie. If she says no, you’ll move on and find someone else to ask out.
<h4>Q: What is a good at-home date night idea?</h4>
I think cooking together is fun. My husband is also a good cook, so we enjoy doing that together. We also love to watch shows together. Granted, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kids-entertainment-out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we have children</a> so we stay in more these days, but we love a good at-home dinner-date night.

Wide shot with copy space of couple sharing a dessert in cafe

A Q&A On Dating: Stop Making It So Difficult

Candace Owens

Dating

Marriage

Relationships

Women

A bill that would effectively ban the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week in a 50-0 vote and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-bill-that-could-lead-to-u-s-ban-on-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was passed</a> by the entire House in a largely bipartisan 352-65 vote on Wednesday. According to the legislation, the app&#8217;s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would have to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the United States.
While the bill does have its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/potential-tiktok-ban-clears-congressional-hurdle-as-some-republicans-voice-opposition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detractors</a>, such as Tesla owner Elon Musk, former President Donald Trump, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and the American people <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-biden-bytedance-china-2acbaeb71e8bb0c6341f2bc55ba33e80" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are split</a> on support for a ban, the bill is <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/11/congress-tiktok-ban-bill-donald-trump/72938017007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to pass with sizable bipartisan support.
Social media accounts like <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Libs of TikTok</a> have documented the proliferation of far-Left gender and racial ideology on the platform for years now, and even top government officials have warned of the danger the app poses to national security because of its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/director-of-national-intelligence-includes-chinas-tiktok-among-its-top-threats-to-national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the CCP aims to “exploit perceived U.S. societal divisions” through social media. The report added that “China is demonstrating a higher degree of sophistication in its influence activity, including experimenting with generative AI. TikTok accounts run by a PRC propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022.”
While the app is a useful vector for both American leftists and Chinese communists to spread corrosive propaganda, the platform itself is just as dangerous to the minds of American citizens as the content posted to it. Studies have consistently reported that TikTok use poses a potentially disastrous threat to users&#8217; memory, attention span, and mental health.
It should be emphasized how astronomically popular this social media platform is in the United States. By some <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299807/number-of-monthly-unique-tiktok-users/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimates</a>, TikTok boasts nearly 150 million monthly users in the U.S. — nearly half of the country&#8217;s population. American teenagers are especially hooked on the video-sharing app, with 67% of teens saying that they have used it and 16% reporting they use it &#8220;almost constantly,&#8221; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/30/tiktok-mental-health-social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Guardian. The average teen user spends an hour-and-a-half on it every single day, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/512576/teens-spend-average-hours-social-media-per-day.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a Gallup poll conducted in 2023.
TikTok&#8217;s algorithm meticulously tailors video recommendations to users&#8217; past viewing habits and preferences, causing some to remark that the app&#8217;s ability to cater to their own personal tastes borders on uncanny, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigation <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-algorithm-video-investigation-11626877477?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> in 2021.
This constant prolonged exposure to TikTok&#8217;s content strategy — barraging users with heavily curated short-form content — is having a detrimental impact on their cognitive abilities.
Specifically, the app&#8217;s algorithm preys on the human brain&#8217;s reward system, which releases the chemical dopamine whenever we experience something enjoyable in order to incentivize further consumption. Dopamine is released in a variety of situations in which humans feel pleasure or satisfaction, from petting a dog to taking drugs, but TikTok&#8217;s algorithm can create a &#8220;dopamine machine&#8221; that can cause people to become more easily addicted to it, pediatrician John Hutton told the WSJ in 2022.
It can also train a user&#8217;s brain to become accustomed to and seek out shorter content to get quicker hits of dopamine. A study from as early as 2019 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09311-w?utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_source=commission_junction&amp;utm_campaign=CONR_PF018_ECOM_GL_PHSS_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&amp;utm_content=textlink&amp;utm_term=PID100096347&amp;CJEVENT=9a51d18de26c11ee81dd01990a82b824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that attention spans are narrowing due in part to how quickly people consume information and content on social media. So, a user&#8217;s brain can become addicted to the format (the 15-second TikTok video) in which content is presented to you as well as the content itself (a video of a dog doing a backflip).
If someone&#8217;s brain become sufficiently addicted to the short-form content, then that can affect how well they can process information from a longer form source such as a news article, TV program, or a book. This can be especially disastrous for children, whose brains are still developing. The term &#8220;TikTok brain&#8221; <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-antidote-for-tiktok-brain-is-also-a-problem-d20ce978" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was coined</a> to describe the phenomenon in which children consume so much short content on apps like TikTok that they struggle to engage with anything that requires a greater degree of focus or attention.
“It is hard to look at increasing trends in media consumption of all types, media multitasking and rates of ADHD in young people and not conclude that there is a decrease in their attention span,” psychiatrist Carl Marci <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-antidote-for-tiktok-brain-is-also-a-problem-d20ce978" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the WSJ.
“When kids spend a lot of time watching short videos, they expect to continually be stimulated by fast changes in content,” says Professor Gloria Mark also told the publication.
In addition to harming their cognitive development, apps like TikTok <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/30/tiktok-mental-health-social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wreak havoc</a> on young people&#8217;s mental health. Multiple studies have <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20research%20study,including%20depression%20and%20anxiety%20symptoms." target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that addictive social media use has contributed to the spike in mental health problems among younger Americans.
TikTok&#8217;s content strategy is so successful that other platforms, such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, have scrambled to adopt a similar format, exposing even more people to the potentially harmful &#8220;dopamine machine.&#8221;
An oft overlooked but critical detail to mention about the Chinese-controlled app is that the American version is already functionally banned — in China. Douyin, TikTok&#8217;s counterpart in China, is devoid of the Left-wing gender and race ideology that pervades TikTok, largely thanks to China&#8217;s strict censorship regime. The algorithm in China instead focuses on pushing educational content as well as product advertisements, while suppressing any potentially inconvenient political topics (the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre perpetrated by the CCP is nowhere to be found on the app).
What&#8217;s more, the Chinese version implements rigorous constraints on how young people can use it. Children younger than 14 can only have access to what the CCP deems child-friendly content and can only use it for 40 minutes every day. They are completely barred from the app from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/tech/tiktok-douyin-bytedance-china-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNN.
A study on Douyin&#8217;s effect on users published in 2021 found that even that highly regulated and censored version of the app still activated areas of users&#8217; brains associated with addiction, the WSJ noted.
The content peddled by TikTok is certainly harmful. Millions of teens have been exposed to radical gender and race ideology through TikTok videos. But the medium itself is also damaging Americans&#8217; minds through its highly addictive and brain-altering algorithm, shortening their attention spans and disincentivizing complex thought. Unless there is a significant change to the format of TikTok and similar apps, its ownership by a hostile foreign government is only one part of the danger it poses to the American public.

In this photo illustration, a woman’s silhouette holds a

TikTok Is Catastrophically Harmful To Young People, Regardless Of Who Owns It

Big Tech

Children

China

Congress

Teenagers

TikTok

More than one in five Generation Z adults now identify as LGBT, new data shows, including nearly 30% of Gen Z women.
About 22% of young adults who were aged 18 to 26 last year self-identify as LGBT, according to a poll released Wednesday by Gallup.
This is higher than the nearly one in 10 millennials — those aged 27 to 42 — who identify as LGBT, and even higher than the 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers, and 1% of the Silent Generation who identify as such.
“Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+,” reads the report.
Meanwhile, the general population of adults who identify as LGBT hit 7.6% last year, an all-time high, while 85.6% say they are straight or heterosexual.
Back in 2012, the percentage of those who identified as LGBT sat at just 3.5%.
The increase is driven in part by Gen Z women, almost 30% of whom identify as LGBT, mostly bisexual, according to Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup.
“That’s where a lot of the growth seems to be happening,” Jones <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nearly-30-gen-z-women-identify-lgbtq-gallup-survey-finds-rcna143019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NBC News.
A large chunk of millennial women, 9% also identify as bisexual.
Bisexual identities were the largest LGBT group, making up more than half, 57% of those who identified as LGBT and 4.4% of adults overall, according to Gallup.
Gay men were next, making up 18.1% of those who identified as LGBT. Lesbians made up 15.1%, and trans-identifying people made up 11.8%, according to the poll.
Pansexual and asexual identities were volunteered by less than 2% of adults who said they were LGBT.
Overall, 8.5% of women and 4.7% of men identified as LGBT, the survey found, making women nearly twice as likely to identify as LGBT.
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Critics have also sounded the alarm in recent years about an increasing number of teen girls identifying as transgender and seeking out transgender medical services with permanent effects.
Teen girls are many times more likely to seek out transgender medical services than teen boys, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-topsurgery/#:~:text=Adolescents%20assigned%20female%20at%20birth%20initiate%20transgender%20care%202.5%20to,legal%2C%20academic%20and%20other%20professionals." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
Gallup surveyed about 12,000 Americans aged 18 and up over the phone.
&#8220;The percentage of U.S. adults who consider themselves something other than heterosexual has more than doubled since Gallup first asked about sexual orientation and transgender identity in 2012,&#8221; Gallup&#8217;s report says.
&#8220;These changes have been led by younger Americans,&#8221; the report says, adding that if the current trends continue, it is likely that those who identify as LGBT will top 10% of all adults in the next 30 years.

Cheerful guy with a rainbow flag on the beach. Young man holding a rainbow flag against the ocean sky

Nearly 30% Of Gen Z Women Identify As LGBT: Gallup Poll

Gallup

Gender

LGBT

Teens and kids are not the only ones glued to their social media feeds anymore — the vast majority of adults spend time scrolling too.
Data released earlier this year shows that a majority of American adults use some kind of social media, but their habits and preferred platforms are different from younger users.
YouTube and Facebook are both about two decades old now, but they remain the top two platforms among adults.
YouTube is by far the most widely used platform among adults as well as teens. About eight in 10 American adults, 83%, say they have used the video-sharing platform at some point, according to recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Pew Research Center, which polled more than 5,700 adults between May and September last year.
<div id="attachment_707565" style="width: 347px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707565" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-707565" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp" alt="" width="337" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp 337w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-175x300.webp 175w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01.webp 620w" sizes="(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px" />Pew Research.</div>
Facebook is not far behind with a majority of U.S. adults, 68%, saying they use it. By contrast, teens have fled Facebook over the past decade as their parents, relatives, teachers, and other adults have joined. In 2022, only 32% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they had ever used Facebook, down from 71% in 2015.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has attracted about half of adults with 47% saying they use the image-based platform.
<div id="attachment_707569" style="width: 840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707569" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-707569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp" alt="" width="830" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp 830w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-300x208.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-768x533.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08.webp 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />Pew Research.</div>
About a fifth of adults say they use Twitter, which was recently renamed X and is known for fast-moving discourse especially relating to politics and pop culture. A fifth also say they use Reddit, known for its hyper-specific communities and sometimes NSFW content.
Of course, TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years, especially among teens and kids, but a third of adults have flocked to the video-sharing platform as well.
TikTok has seen a 12-point spike in adult users since 2021, while the percentages of adults who use YouTube and Facebook, the most popular platforms, have stayed about the same since 2021.
However, about half of TikTok&#8217;s adult users are observers only, meaning they have never posted a video themselves. This includes younger adults aged 18 to 34 — only half have ever posted a video.
Because of this, the vast majority of TikTok&#8217;s content is created by a small share of users. The top 25% of adults on TikTok produce 98% of that group&#8217;s publicly available videos.
The typical adult TikTok user has also left their &#8220;bio&#8221; blank on their account.
More people are now getting their news from TikTok too. Last year, about 14% of adults said they got news regularly from TikTok, more than four times the 3% who said so in 2020.
TikTok&#8217;s pivot to a news source echoes Twitter&#8217;s evolution, which has become many people&#8217;s go-to source for up-to-the-minute news updates.
Communities geared towards adult users, such as parenting content and even X-rated content, have popped up on many of the platforms popular with adults.
Meanwhile among teens, YouTube is the most popular platform with 95% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> in 2022 that they use it, followed by TikTok with 67% of teens, Instagram with 62%, and then Snapchat, an app used to send disappearing photos and messages, with 59%.
Teen girls are more likely to use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, while teen boys are more likely to use Reddit and Twitch, a self-streaming platform often used by video gamers.
The average social media user is also not just on one platform but uses an eye-popping six or seven platforms every month.
Overall, we&#8217;re all scrolling more. Across the globe last year, about 4.9 billion people <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> social media, and that number continues to climb.

Facebook Temporarily Disabling Some Messenger Features In Europe

Among Adults, This Is By Far The Most Popular Social Media Platform

Facebook

Instagram

Internet

Reddit

Twitter

To read the Boston Globe, you’d think it was the Klan <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/28/opinion/dei-denial-is-modern-day-lynching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trying</a> to take down DEI.
It’s no secret that conservatives’ crusade <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against DEI</a> is causing a massive stir in our current cultural moment. From the heights of higher education to boardrooms across America, the culture war is shifting back into racial territory as the Right sets its sights on pushing racially exclusionary policies out of the public square. How you view this crusade heavily depends on who’s telling you about it — MSNBC writers are <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/dei-education-republican-laws-report-rcna136628" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convinced</a> that this anti-DEI push is fueled by a “positive vision of white nationalism that grew under Donald Trump.” On the other side, conservative media <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2023/11/20/we-are-just-scratching-the-surface-of-the-lies-behind-the-dei-agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">portrays</a> the current moment as the tip of a much larger woke iceberg that, if conservatives are sufficiently dogged, will all be revealed in time.
This is more than just a clash of headlines and buzzwords. Debates over when, where, and how to do DEI are the outworkings of a philosophical conflict: cynical racialized tribalism vs. hope-filled American dynamism. To portray all of DEI’s critics as white nationalists and/or racists is to engage in the most pernicious sort of click-fueled intellectual dishonesty.
I question DEI, not because it serves minorities like me, but precisely because it doesn’t.
As an American of color who hopes to have kids one day, I have zero confidence in the ability of DEI true believers to give my children a healthy perspective on race. There’s a <a href="https://rlo.acton.org/archives/124960-the-strange-death-of-dei.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">better and a worse way to do DEI</a>, but I don’t trust them to get it right. In their well-intentioned but horribly executed bid to better America’s racial consciousness, there are three things mainstream DEI seems to have forgotten that my future children can’t afford to.
Viewing life through a racial lens is a profoundly depressing way to live life. As someone adopted from the Third World, I’ve spent a great deal of my life trying to process all the ways that I’m different from the people I live around. Make no mistake, some of it’s inevitable. However, it’s also completely possible to overthink your own differences. This is a mindset question: Am I going to spend the rest of my life subconsciously enumerating all the things I don’t share in common with my neighbors, friends, colleagues, and fellow Americans? I’ve tried it — and in my less proud moments, I’m still tempted by that mindset — but it didn’t make my life better, and it hasn’t made my teamwork or conflict resolution skills any better either. It’s incredibly difficult to listen to the better angels of my nature when they’re telling me how oppressed I’m supposed to feel.
Race isn’t that interesting of a subject. As at odds as it may be with the current racial focus of DEI, race is a pretty shallow subject. In my own life, the extent to which race has played a part in my backstory and political evolution isn’t all that intriguing to talk about. As fellow DEI critic Coleman Hughes <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>, “I’ve always found race to be boring … in most real-life situations, a person’s race tells you next to nothing about them.” He’s right — and it’s something future generations need to bear in mind. Being a racial minority is not a substitute for being an interesting or morally upright person, despite what the drivers of the current race-obsessed moment might have you believe. It’s hardly the first race-obsessed moment in our nation’s history, and that’s the hope that I want my children to bear in mind.
America has made tremendous racial progress. At its most fundamental level, this isn’t a question. Even if we don’t always <a href="https://rlo.acton.org/archives/125206-stop-pulling-punches-against-anti-racism.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reflect that progress</a>, Americans of color are facing a far brighter world, in both law and culture, than we were 60 years ago when MLK stood by the monuments of our founders and revealed his dream to the world. That kind of progress should not be thrown away on the altar of soul-crushing activism or squandered in despair over the work that still remains. I want my children to be able to see the visage of Lincoln in our nation’s capital, as King did, and see the promise of a nation that was built for them, even if we didn’t always realize that. I want my children to feel the breeze in New York Harbor and realize that the torch of liberty is extended to them — the promise of hopeful dynamism in which all Americans share, despite the darkest parts of our history.
When I and my fellow critics raise questions about DEI, or the pseudo-language of microaggressions, or the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/12/anti-racism-is-a-religion-and-nearing-cult-status/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">false religion</a> of antiracism, we’re doing so because we want a better future for the next generation. We’re not pushing back on DEI because of some deep-seated self-loathing or racial animus. We’re pushing back on DEI because it represents skepticism about the American dream, and the principles behind a society that’s given us everything. We cannot afford to be jaded in this moment, not when we’ve come so far. If there is to be a struggle against those who would race-hustle America, let it be in our time — so future generations can see exactly what it is we’re fighting for.
* * *
Isaac Willour is a senior at Grove City College and an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Times. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program, and can be found on X @IsaacWillour.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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