[spcebar]

Nature is healing. Glad to see this. I was in high school when smart phones really became widespread, and was personally still on a flip phone most of the way through. I think there's something healthy to the boredom the kids describe, which ultimately leads to socialization and introspection. 24/7 social media seems like a very destructive portal to isolation, and having a reprieve from that, if only a few hours a day, seems like a great thing.

[moduspol]

Not just socialization and introspection, and not just among kids!

I guess I'm probably preaching to the choir here on HN, but the amount of social woes we are currently experiencing that are indirectly the result of a dramatic increase in social media consumption is a lot higher than I think most people expect.

There are just so many aspects of life that one only really gets nudged into doing at least partially out of boredom, despite ultimately fulfilling so much more. When you can stave off boredom instantly and indefinitely, there are all kinds of experiences that will be substituted.

[HPsquared]

Hundreds of millions of people are totally oblivious and uncaring of their situation and surroundings, so long as they have access to enough digital distraction. It's the new opiate of the masses.

[rTX5CMRXIfFG]

I would not have learned to play the guitar if I had a smartphone then, or if the internet was any faster than a dial-up. Now I have an outlet to make something beautiful out of my loneliness whenever it strikes.

[flir]

Internet ruined me for anything long-form. I'm old enough to remember the Before Times, but a lot of people aren't.

[balfirevic]

On the other hand, I would not have learned to play the guitar without the high-speed internet.

[lanfeust6]

Well. I had the internet, video games, tv, extracurriculars, etc and still learned the guitar. Kids have a lot of free time if you don't overschedule them.

[naasking]

> I think there's something healthy to the boredom the kids describe, which ultimately leads to socialization and introspection.

This. People these days talk about boredom like it's the worst thing ever.

[JohnFen]

> I think there's something healthy to the boredom the kids describe

I recently heard the comedian Jimmy Carr make an excellent comment about how we as a society think of boredom as a negative, when it's actually a positive: "Boredom is just unacknowledged serenity."

[cortesoft]

I really don't think I understand what it must be like to have smart phones in high school. I went to school in the "no beepers allowed because only drug dealers have them" era