A Truly Unique Generation: Smart, Agile and Independent or Lonely, Fragile and Anxious?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35819/tear.v13.n2.a7236

Abstract

The objective of this text is to reflect on what the intense use of screens and social media causes for children, adolescents, and young people today. Is digital culture making them smarter, more agile, and independent, or anxious, lonely, and fragile? With this question as a starting point, we propose a discussion based on the writings of various authors who address the constitution of those born in Brazil from the year 2000 onward. The text was developed from a literature review perspective based on two doctoral research projects focusing on related themes: the formation of contemporary youth in the face of techno-scientific transformations, and the professional development of teachers within a collaborative and investigative community, considering the new generational profile that is entering schools, marked by global hyper-connection. The results indicate that we have a generation facing dramatic changes in how they constitute themselves, exist, and live as contemporary subjects. This is a generation that dedicates excessive time to screens and social media, facing the highest rates of depression, loneliness, self-harm, suicide attempts, and completed suicides. Such a scenario compels us to question how digital communication and information technologies are interfering with the physical, psychological, cognitive, and emotional development of this generation.

Keywords: Contemporaneity. Current generation. Technological artifacts. Human development.

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Author Biographies

  • Marlei Dambros, UFSC

    Doutora em Educação Científica e Tecnológica pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina-UFSC (2023). Possuí mestrado em Educação pela Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul - UFFS (2015). Graduação em Pedagogia pela Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó (2003). Atualmente é Servidora Pública Federal na Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul.  É vinculada ao Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Educação Tecnológica (NEPET/UFSC), com registro no CNPQ.

  • Lucélia Peron, UFSC

    Doutoranda em Educação Científica e Tecnológica na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). Técnica em Assuntos Educacionais na Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS), onde atua na Pró-Reitora de Graduação. 

Published

2024-12-16

How to Cite

A Truly Unique Generation: Smart, Agile and Independent or Lonely, Fragile and Anxious?. #Tear: Journal of Education, Science and Technology, Canoas, v. 13, n. 2, 2024. DOI: 10.35819/tear.v13.n2.a7236. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ifrs.edu.br/index.php/tear/article/view/7236. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.