Fears of a generation who don’t grow up
Tim Hawkes, principal of King’s College in Sydney, argues in this article in the Brisbane Times that :
We need to be concerned about the possibility of a brain-damaged generation
of children. To this add a desensitising to violence (by the age of 18 a boy
will have watched about 20,000 murders), a premature sexualising (12- to
22-year-old males are the biggest users of sex-chat lines), and exhaustion due
to social networking (peak use of teenage networking is just after
midnight).The most frightening situation occurs when there is an accumulation of
brain-deadening behaviours. It is difficult to believe an under-exercised,
jelly-bellied video gamer, with an affection for junk food and late nights, is
going to survive childhood without being mentally damaged.
And if they do, will they be able to have long term happy relationships?
