{"id":40219,"date":"2025-02-18T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40219"},"modified":"2025-01-26T08:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T16:37:11","slug":"rock-roll-may-rot-my-soul-but-wont-technology-save-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/rock-roll-may-rot-my-soul-but-wont-technology-save-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock & Roll May Rot my Soul but Won’t Technology Save Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“Rock and roll will rot your soul”[1]<\/a> was a phrase many adults born into the Silent Generation muttered to their children, reflecting their fears that the younger generation’s music would lead them to moral decay, rebellion, and brain rot. It was a warning against what they perceived as cultural chaos and immorality. To them, rock and roll was loud, energetic, and full of defiance, threatening traditionally conservative values and norms. In defiant response, many young people countered with the slogan, rock and roll will save your soul.<\/p>\n

I began wondering about the parallels of concern that each generation has for those coming behind them. Whether rock and roll created brain rot is certainly subjective. Still, in The Anxious Generation, author Jonathan Haidt confidently asserts that mental health decline among children correlates with the rise in the use of technology, specifically smartphones. Haidt shares that he didn’t set out to write this book. Instead, he planned to write about “How social media was damaging American democracy.”[2]<\/a> However, during the research process, he discovered that the “Adolescent story was so much bigger.”[3]<\/a> His findings revealed that smartphones and social media were unraveling the very foundations of childhood. Children have less unstructured playtime with other kids and don’t explore the outdoors as much as generations before them. As a result, less social interaction leads to a decline in physical development and skills such as conflict resolution, emotional regulation, empathy, and curiosity.<\/p>\n

As a Generation X parent with a Millennial son, I aimed to provide him with a better childhood with financial stability, emotional support, and protection from trauma. However, his growing interest in video games, which started as harmless fun, became his main form of interaction. His father, also a gamer, bonded with him this way. I felt uneasy watching them spend hours playing. I worried about exposure to harmful content and other online risks, especially given the plethora of studies highlighting the psychological harm of video games. This fear created tension in my marriage. I was labeled overprotective. It was just a video game, and every generation has its own concerns, just like those who worried about rock and roll causing moral decay and individual brain rot.<\/p>\n

Today, I believe my son and his dad were addicted to video games. The gaming wins resulted in dopamine hits. In his book, The Molecule of More, authors Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long discuss the rise in virtual realities in and outside video games. “Virtual reality produces images and sounds that create compelling experiences transporting the participant to beautiful, exciting locations to instantly become the hero of the universe.”[4]<\/a> They say that through technology, “The human race may go willingly into the dark night, and our dopamine circuits will tell us it’s the best thing ever.”[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Thankfully, Jonathan Haidt discovered practical and easy changes that schools and families can adopt that might help ease the growing trend of anxiety and depression among children.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don’t allow smartphones before high school.<\/li>\n
  2. Don’t allow social media before age 16.<\/li>\n
  3. Enact a phone-free school policy.<\/li>\n
  4. Cultivate a habit of unsupervised play and childhood independence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These reforms will protect the vulnerable mental development of children and will help reduce distractions in learning. They will also encourage natural learning patterns that influence social skills, including overcoming anxiety as they become independent young adults.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

    It’s no secret that each generation’s concerns about the influence of new technologies or cultural trends on younger generations reflect deep-rooted fears about societal change. Whether it was rock and roll, video games, or social media, the potential for adolescent harm is real. However, by adopting strategies like limiting screen time and encouraging independence, we can help protect children’s mental and emotional well-being to promote a healthier future for them.<\/p>\n

    \n

    [1]<\/a> Palmer, Robert. Rock & Roll: An Unruly History<\/em>. 1st ed. New York: Harmony Books, 1995.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness<\/em>. New York: Penguin Press, 2024. P.289<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Ibid. P 289<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Lieberman, Daniel Z., and Michael E. Long. The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity-and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race<\/em>. First trade paperback edition. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, 2019. P.208<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Ibid. P.208<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness<\/em>. New York: Penguin Press, 2024. P. 15.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    “Rock and roll will rot your soul”[1] was a phrase many adults born into the Silent Generation muttered to their children, reflecting their fears that the younger generation’s music would lead them to moral decay, rebellion, and brain rot. It was a warning against what they perceived as cultural chaos and immorality. To them, rock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3407],"class_list":["post-40219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-haidt-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40221,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40219\/revisions\/40221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}