Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Anybody who grew up in a previous generation must be asking themselves: “Where are the young people?” They’re not in places one would traditionally be expected to see them: parks & fairs are mostly empty, and movie theaters, restaurants & music venues are filled with old people, there’s hardly a youngster in sight. Even traveling around, the dearth of children seems almost apocalyptic. Not just kids, but so-called adults, people into their thirties. For a couple decades, the time schedules simply didn’t match: older people were going home for the night just as the young were arriving but even that no longer seems the case. Census figures say people under-30 exist in large numbers so they must be someplace else, but where? Two things coincided that may explain the mystery: first, social media & videogames are becoming more & more popular, especially among the youth, and starting at very young ages. Secondly, the pandemic of fear and associated Lockdowns. Young people in the prime of their developmental life were indoctrinated & enticed to stay indoors. A decade ago we used to joke about the public service announcements on television encouraging parents to make their kids go outside at least 30 minutes a day, and now those kids have grown up, and they’re never leaving their rooms.