2024 has been a crazy year, and we have only just begun. From the tens of worldwide conflicts in places like Yemen, Ethiopia, Gaza, and Myanmar, to the largest global warming threat to humanity today; little first-world problems in our lives such as Sephora havoc, consumption culture, and reliance on technology seem irrelevant. Nevertheless, the years continue to pass, and modern customs continue to evolve; yet not always for the better. Could exaggerated use of technology and new overconsumption trends be pushing the development of society backwards instead of forward?
From blogs online to students in Issaquah, most of the world seems to unanimously agree against iPad kids. These are the children that grew up inside, glued to their screens; tendencies that instilled the preconceived notion that “if you need something, you can get it through technology.” I guess that makes it no surprise to what the same generation has grown into; more specifically, the Sephora snatching, makeup messing, 10–11-year-olds seen terrorizing malls across America today. Model and content creator @haleyybaylee states on Tiktok that “there was a massive group of girls who came running in [while I was shopping in Sephora].” Baylee states that “these girls had to be very, very, very young; like 9, 10, maybe 11.” And when Baylee says “a massive group, [she] mean[s] a massive group. There had to be like 26 little girls and only two adults. Anyway, they came running into Sephora and immediately started grabbing things off the shelves, screaming, and running around.” Sophomore Shriya Kaushik states that “I’ve seen one in real life, and yes, they are as scary as people make them out to be. It felt like they were the teenagers instead of me; after all, I know that when I used to be 10, I was terrified of people in high school. I feel like the middle schoolers these days are growing up quicker than us, though.” While the lack of manners and acceptable behavior displayed among children in public might be attributed to modern “skincare mindful, clean girl aesthetics” and access to technology from a young age; other, darker forces are possibly be at fault- ones that might have more profuse consequences than a makeup scandal.
Between 1968 and 1970, American ethologist John B. Calhoun conducted a behavioral study of captive mice within a nine-square-foot enclosure at a rural facility in Poolesville, Maryland. Within the enclosure known as Universe 25, several pairs of mice bred a population, which ultimately swelled to 2,200. Universe 25 had the mice enjoy the luxuries attributed to modern human life; things like unlimited food, no diseases, no predators, and a plenitude of comforts. Upon supplying the critters with unlimited food and water, Calhoun expected to see their population swell to 5,000 over the course of the 28-month experiment; yet the reality of Universe 25 was decidedly more gruesome. To summarize, the mice met, mated and bred in large quantities; eventually leading to a “leveling-off.” After that, the rodents developed either hostile and cliquish or passive and anti-social behaviors- things such as rape, cannibalization, aggressiveness, superiority complexes, and other traits seen in modern human society. Soon enough, the population would trail off to extinction. To add to the sincerity of Universe 25, the Harvard Business Review has found that “even though the rat brain is smaller and less complex than the human brain, research has shown that the two are remarkably similar in structure and function.”
Whether the new age of “lazy” kids means ‘the experiment’ is following its course is not clear, but the facts are still there; those from CNN stating that “IQ scores have been steadily falling, and genes aren’t what’s driving the decline” and The Guardian, who writes, “children today read less frequently than any previous generation and enjoy reading less than young people did in the past.” IHS students are feeling the change as well. Freshman Jiya Jain says, “my brother has become pretty much completely helpless. He is always relying on my mom and my dad to give him breakfast, remind him when to leave for school, and even when to do his homework. The reason for this is not a disability, or anything that would leave him incapable of doing these things on his own; it is his new iPhone. He is always on it and never has time for literally anything else. Once, my mom tried to take it away from him, and he started crying. My brother is eleven years old!”
Even with these disconcerting statistics, however; there remains hope. Despite the grim outcome of Universe 25, Calhoun was not trying to imply humankind was headed down a similar path toward extinction. While there are parallels between the downfall of Universe 25 and some of society’s ills, Calhoun stressed that humans-as a more sophisticated species-had the wisdom and ingenuity to reverse such trends. As long as it is not rats scurrying around in Sephora, there are still opportunities for the new generation to wake up and fix their mistakes; assuming they can pull away from their phones for a second, of course.
