The loneliest generation

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As someone born in 2004, I belong to Generation Z — the first generation to grow up with smartphones as constant companions. Looking back, I often wonder whether we gained convenience at the cost of something far more valuable: our ability to connect with one another.

I received my first personal smartphone when I was in the seventh grade. Like many teenagers, I spent hours glued to it. Slowly, I drifted away from conversations with friends and family. I found myself struggling with anxiety and depression, feelings that those around me neither recognised nor understood. While I cannot blame every difficulty on a smartphone, I cannot ignore the role it played in encouraging isolation and endless distraction.

Over time, I consciously changed my habits. Today, reading has replaced scrolling as my favourite pastime, and I use my phone mostly for calls. That change made me realise how much of life I had been missing while staring at a screen.

The effects of excessive smartphone use are not always dramatic. They appear in quieter ways. We hesitate to answer phone calls because they interrupt our scrolling. Festivals that once brought families together are reduced to forwarded messages. Invitations to weddings and family functions arrive as digital cards. Vacations become opportunities to post photographs rather than moments to be fully present. Even learning has changed. Instead of reading books or exploring ideas in depth, we increasingly seek quick summaries and short videos.

Technology itself is not the problem. Smartphones have transformed communication, education and access to information in remarkable ways. The problem begins when convenience replaces human interaction, and instant consumption replaces thoughtful reflection.

Ironically, despite living in the most connected age in history, many young people report feeling increasingly lonely. Perhaps that is because connection and communication are not the same. One depends on technology; the other depends on attention.

If there is one habit my generation must reclaim, it is the ability to spend time away from screens — reading a book, meeting a friend, having an uninterrupted conversation or simply sitting with our own thoughts. In an age that constantly demands our attention, perhaps the greatest act of self-care is deciding where that attention belongs.

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