We are more connected than ever before, with our high-speed internet, pinging smartphones and ever-updating apps and social media networks. (iPhone 17e, anyone?!)<\/p>\n
And yet, we are also lonelier than ever<\/a>, especially younger generations who are even more likely to be on their digital devices for longer periods of time. Gen Z<\/a>, it turns out, is the loneliest generation of them all, according to the 2025 Cigna Group report<\/a> \u201cLoneliness in America.\u201d It found that 67% of Gen Zers reported being lonely (65% of millennials, who also grew up with digital technologies, did as well, as compared with 60% of Gen Xers and 44% of baby boomers). <\/p>\n What\u2019s more, about 1 in 5 teenagers ages 13 to 17 experiences high rates of loneliness, according to a World Health Organization\u2019s<\/a> 2025 report<\/a>; and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, 40% of high school students<\/a> reported \u201cpersistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness\u201d in 2023.<\/p>\n Dr. Shairi Turner, chief health officer of the nonprofit Crisis Text Line<\/a> \u2014 a free, 24-7 text-based mental health service \u2014 calls it \u201ca public health crisis\u201d that is especially affecting Gen Z<\/a> for a reason.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re 14-29 now, so they\u2019re digital natives, very comfortable with being connected to people by phone,\u201d she says. \u201cBut that connection isn\u2019t a replacement for human connection. It gives the illusion of being close, but without real interpersonal interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased single parent households<\/a>, she says. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is a generation that lived through the pandemic during some key developmental years \u2014 some of their formative years may have been in lockdown, using smartphones, [instead of] developing critical social skills,\u201d Turner says. \u201cAnd Gen Z is more likely to have been raised in single-parent households, and may have come home to an empty home where one parent was working or they were going back and forth between homes.\u201d<\/p>\n So where to go from here? Note the warning signs, Turner says. <\/p>\n \u201cIs your child spending more time with their phone than their friends?\u201d she says. \u201cAre your kids coming home upset about interactions at school or with their friends more times than not? And: Are they avoiding in-person extracurricular activities like sports or clubs? These are all things to look out for.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are Turner\u2019s top three tips for helping your Gen Z kids cope with loneliness.<\/p>\n Be present and engage in active listening. \u201cGive them the space to share their feelings. Just be present and listen to your child \u2014 don\u2019t put words in their mouth. Create that safe space so they know they can share with you that they\u2019re feeling lonely. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of saying \u2018did you have a good day?\u2019 where they can say \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no,\u2019 ask a question that elicits more: \u2018What did you do today that you enjoyed?\u2019 Or: \u2018Is there anything you found challenging today?\u2019 Brainstorm with them options or ways that they could have handled a situation differently; or do some role playing with your child, so they feel prepared the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n Plan outdoor social activities. \u201cThat can be with your child or with your child and their friends. Connect in a low-pressure way: \u2018Let\u2019s bring some kids over and go to the park.\u2019 Plan something around a shared interest, like soccer or baseball, where they\u2019re enjoying the sport together and they don\u2019t have to sit and talk in a high-pressure way \u2014 they can just have fun. Our report <\/a>on young people in crisis shows that outdoor third space areas \u2014 parks and recreation \u2014 help young people cope with their mental health. These same young people identified sports and opportunities for social connection as helpful to their mental health and well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n Explore mental health resources: \u201cKnow what the school resources are, what\u2019s available, before your child needs mental health support. Are there counselors, school psychologists? What\u2019s the bevy of resources in school or in the community if my child is in need \u2014 therapists, local support groups? Our Crisis Text Line is great because it\u2019s on the phone and most young people are comfortable with that and they can text our volunteers and it\u2019s confidential. It\u2019s about being prepared and aware.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, Turner says, young people are resilient \u2014 their brains are still growing \u2014 and intentional parenting goes a long way toward offsetting the effects of digital devices and social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never too late to encourage \u2014 and model \u2014 positive interpersonal skills,\u201d Turner says. \u201cMeaning: human to human connection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are more connected than ever before, with our high-speed internet, pinging smartphones and ever-updating apps and social…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3409,16273,106562,35095,48,52,51,46812,106560,47,50,49,2093,24246,106561,14220,3729,4265,7496,31703,7163],"class_list":["post-235748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-child","tag-connection","tag-digital-device","tag-gen-z","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-loneliness","tag-lonely-generation","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mental-health","tag-more-time","tag-persistent-feeling","tag-phone","tag-report","tag-school","tag-sport","tag-turner","tag-young-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}