The Meaning Crisis In Youth and What to Do About It

With all that modern life hath wrought for us, are today’s youth happier? Or, are they suffering from a great meaning crisis? The literature around the so-called Anxious Generation is clear: teens are more depressed and disoriented than any generation in which we’ve paid enough attention to measure it.

How has this come about? At its core is the belief that nothing exists but the physical. In a word: materialism. Naturally, we need a healthy sensory life to orient and relate to life in the physical. When taken to an extreme, this becomes an obsession with the outer world and a denial of our inner lives. This expresses itself in the, particularly western, obsession with appearance, bank account balance, and having all the latest gadgets and devices, among others. This leads to a meaning crisis where we no longer feel our inner direction in life. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in our cell phone culture which has rotted teen mental health like an extremely aggressive invasive fungus. They look constantly outward seeking to satisfy an inner longing for connection.

The Meaning Crisis in Youth

Teen mental health has declined at an alarming rate in our generation. One could already see in Woodstock ’99. Even though both ’69 and ’99 were drug saturated, the former was built on peace and love. It was held on a beautiful green surrounded by trees. The latter was built on pain, becoming a destructive disaster involving rape and arson, and was held on an abandoned air force base. The former featured peace-loving acts like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. The latter featured pain-soaked acts like Korn and Linkin Park. And, that was all even before the onslaught of smartphones poured kerosene on the blaze. So, Houston, we do have a problem. Anybody who works with youth knows it’s not just better diagnosis (although that has luckily also improved). It’s because our young are more afflicted with a meaning crisis than they’ve ever been.

The Map of the Human Being

Who are we human beings, anyway? Humans are beings of body, soul, and spirit. It is true that materialistic science masterfully describes and manipulates matter. We benefit greatly from this every day, like your ability to read this post. However, materialism describes only the tip, and not the whole, iceberg. Otherwise, how could people who have all the money, success, and outer adoration in the world – like Robin Williams –end in such ruin? If material well-being were all we needed to be happy, then more money would mean more happiness, indefinitely. Research shows this is not the case. Income increases only to a point indicate more happiness, after which the effects levels out. This suggests that, while humans need a material minimum, materialism is far from everything we need. We have intangible, soul-spiritual needs as well.

This is also true for youth. Around the age of 9, they start to understand the soul and spirit more readily. By puberty, they become willing to spend hours in their own room exploring inner spaces – if we provide them the opportunity and take their smartphones away. They will read, play instruments, draw, play sports, etc. If allowed to bring out what is inside them, youth experience something deeper than matter that works in human beings. It matters a great deal at this age when it becomes possible for a long-term meaning crisis to take root. That is why we should take the phones and support wholesome activities like woodworking, theater, etc. They also need stories of exceptional human individuals who have achieved great things, especially out of struggle. We ought not pound religion into them, although being part of a spiritual community can be extraordinarily orienting as long as it makes sense to them and is not dogmatic. Even biographies like those of great sports stars, for example, can provide inner strength, especially when they exemplify all that is good within human character.

How We Got to the Meaning Crisis

Regarding how we got here, it started with Francis Bacon and the advent of empirical science. By Bacon’s time, it became crucial to pay attention to sensory facts in our thinking process as a society. One example of this in science is noting what the fossil record shows in the process of evolution. Initially it served to emancipate Europe from religious dogma. In time, it led to all the advances made by modern material science, like this computer. However, I contend that materialism was not meant to stay materialistic but to evolve into a more holistic science that includes what can be observed and replicated sensorily as well as inwardly. That many scientists have remained calcified in their assertions that nothing exists but the material, and that this materialism has become the religion of the masses, we now have a meaning crisis. I recently debated a materialist convinced materialism was saving the world. If that were true, then why are more youth on ADHD drugs and anti-depressants than ever before?

Even though our youth rebel against us at some point, we adults still set the tone of their lives. If you want to help them, start by changing your own thinking. Consider the possibility that reality consists not just of the tip but the whole iceberg. We can rebirth how we raise our children with a holistic understanding of the human being, such as Anthroposophy can provide. Then, we can turn this meaning crisis into a meaning opportunity.

How We Can Help

Enkindle Academy offers prerecorded and live lessons for students in grades 5-9. We teach all academic subjects plus fine arts, creative writing, and empowerment groups for teens. We also offer 1-on-1 tutoring on all subjects including fine arts. Visit our website for more info and for free sample lessons. Remember to subscribe for weekly updates, tips for homeschooling, and special offers.