AE- How isolation is rooted in the 80s

I think the fear mongering in the 80s–90s led us to where we are today.

Kids in the 80s were constantly hounded with stranger danger stereotypes and PSAs, which in theory seem like a good idea, but actually weren’t. A good example is the stranger danger movement. Instead of teaching kids not to get in the car with a stranger and to make sure you’re aware of your surroundings and decisions, it taught kids that everyone outside was trying to grab you.
Photos of people lurking around corners were posted in newspapers and magazines. Ads on TV showed vans with blacked-out windows grabbing children. The news said that two million children went missing every year in just America and told you that you would be next.

Every morning, kids ate breakfast with a missing child next to them, on the milk carton or the cereal box. As adults slowly lost interest and became desensitized to these images, the children were constantly taught that it could be them. While children need to be taught stranger danger, they should not be taught to be scared of the world. Early-set paranoia started to sprout in young kids. Anxiety began to spread. Children were constantly nervous, and taught to be.

Stranger danger should be taught in a way that makes children aware. Children should be taught to pay attention, notice when a stranger is hanging around, notice when a car is slowing next to you, notice when you’re being manipulated. Children should be taught to have trust and know when not to. Know that just because this person is saying they are your mum’s friend doesn’t mean you have to go anywhere with them.
Authority figures, like teachers, aunts and uncles, and even parents, should be held to this level. If you know you’re supposed to be at Dad’s house tonight, but Mum shows up saying it’s her turn, question it. Think before you do things.

Children should not be taught to fear the outside world. While it’s technically safer to assume everyone is evil, all you’re doing is isolating yourself and crushing yourself with anxiety. Being paranoid doesn’t stop you from being kidnapped. You could be the safest, most cautious person in the world. It could still happen.
So why are we teaching kids that the outside world is going to grab them and sell them to a child trafficking ring? Yes, teach kids about danger. Teach kids what could happen. But do not pound it into them every day, in every newspaper and TV show, in every movie and milk carton, that they are going to be snatched away and murdered. No six-year-old should be living with that fear.

Obviously, this pandemic of fear has grown into anxious, high-strung, controlling parents. Gen Z has grown up with helicopter parents, overprotective and unnecessarily close. Children don’t play in the street anymore because their parents are so scared of them being snatched.

People often talk about how the newer generations are soft, but whose fault is that? Most people in this generation have grown up with a security camera on their head. The world is comfortable; we have so much information and so many tools in the literal palm of our hand, but it’s also quiet. 

Social interaction is now filtered through fear: fear of being recorded, of going viral for the wrong reason, of saying or doing something that leads to public shame. Even moments that should feel carefree like parties, hangouts, sleepovers, are overshadowed by worst-case scenarios. The freedom to make mistakes and explore identity has been stifled by a constant awareness of being watched.

With parenting and social media, they have been taught that they are never alone. Kids don’t dress the way they want to. They refuse to be silly or let their guard down because they know there is a risk of danger.

People always wonder why everyone in Gen Z seems to be depressed and anxious, and to that I say, how could we not be? Every day, we are told that the world is ending. We are flooded with images of war and death. We are told that if we go outside, we will end up dead in a ditch or we will end up on someone’s Instagram page. Every corner evokes fear.

We were never taught to love our community or to ride our bikes and play in the creek with our friends. We were not taught to trust. The world is a scary place. Sometimes it feels like there is more bad than good.

It’s important to teach children fear, they need their instincts to survive. But it has happened the wrong way, and now children and teenagers are more anxious than ever. These people will grow up to be more anxious adults. The cycle will repeat.

Teach children safety. Do not teach them to be scared.