Close X
Saturday, September 21, 2024
ADVT 
National

Sociologist says pandemic may have made Canadian youth less empathetic, meaner

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 19 Apr, 2023 01:06 PM
  • Sociologist says pandemic may have made Canadian youth less empathetic, meaner

TORONTO — Increased time online during the pandemic may have made young Canadians meaner, a researcher said Wednesday, warning that declining empathy which emerged during isolation was now fostering increased cruelty during in-person interactions, including at school.  

Kaitlynn Mendes, an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, said during an Ontario Medical Association press conference that many parents may not be aware of their children's increased exposure to online harassment during the pandemic, which is now having damaging consequences. 

"Teachers really noted that, as young people were coming back into school, the way that young people were communicating with each other during lockdown had changed, and they found that their empathy had really decreased," Mendes, who is a sociologist, told reporters.

"This was likely due to things like the lack of eye contact, facial expression, human touch, and even voice intonations. These are really important cues that are missing from online interaction and this makes empathizing hard, but it means that harassment and abuse actually become much easier," she added. 

Mendes has not yet completed a comprehensive study about isolation's mental health impacts on Canadian youth, but based her analysis on anecdotal evidence and a study she conducted in the U.K.

In that study, 96 per cent of British youth between the ages of 13 to 18, teachers and parents said they used more social media during the pandemic. She told reporters she expects similar findings in the Canadian study she is conducting. 

The British youths surveyed reported that more time online led to an increase "in their experiences of sexual harassment, misogyny, racism, homophobia, and even various forms of fraud ... and other practices like body shaming." 

"We were also looking at harms based on sexuality. So we had lots of young people report how they were outed during COVID," she said.

In the U.K., young people also cited "increased anxiety, depression and even various forms of self harm," she added.

The challenges of confinement also made parents less strict about managing children's screen time, she said, calling for "more preparation, education, support and scaffolding that goes into young people's use of digital technologies."

"It's very clear that when things go wrong, young people do not know where to turn to for help and that was one of the most striking things that came out of our research," Mendes further said. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada

Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada
The move, an extension of a Covid-era temporary public policy that was set to expire today, has now been extended by two years, until February 28, 2025. Visitors applying under this public policy who held a work permit within the last 12 months will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer more quickly.

Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada

Victim punched in stomach and knocked to the ground, suspects robbed him of his headphones

Victim punched in stomach and knocked to the ground, suspects robbed him of his headphones
The victim was walking towards the New Westminster SkyTrain Station at approximately 9:00 am when he was punched in the stomach and knocked to the ground by two men he didn’t know. One of the suspects robbed him of his headphones before both suspects fled the area.

Victim punched in stomach and knocked to the ground, suspects robbed him of his headphones

Canada more trusting of China in 2016: Rosenberg

Canada more trusting of China in 2016: Rosenberg
Citing an unnamed national security source, the newspaper reported Zhang was instructed by Beijing to donate $1 million in honour of the elder Trudeau in 2014, two years before the $200,000 donation to the Trudeau Foundation was made.

Canada more trusting of China in 2016: Rosenberg

Vancouver home sales up 77% from Jan.: board

Vancouver home sales up 77% from Jan.: board
The board says sales for the month totalled 1,808, roughly 33 per cent below the 10-year February sales average. There were 3,467 new listings last month, a 36.6 per cent decrease, when compared with February 2022, and a 5.2 per cent increase, when compared with January.    

Vancouver home sales up 77% from Jan.: board

Three skiers dead in B.C. avalanche

Three skiers dead in B.C. avalanche
 RCMP say the three were among 10 heli-skiers caught by the slide near the Panorama Mountain Resort, about 150 kilometres southwest of Banff, Alta. Cpl. James Grady says everyone in the group has been accounted for, and four are injured but are expected to recover.

Three skiers dead in B.C. avalanche

Trudeau Foundation returning 2016 donation

Trudeau Foundation returning 2016 donation
Pascale Fournier, the president and CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, which the prime minister has not been involved with since becoming leader, says the amount has been refunded.

Trudeau Foundation returning 2016 donation