Today we went to Waterstones in town. We went to the kid’s section to see if there were any classics for my daughter.
There were loads of kids up to the age of around 7 engrossed looking through all the different books. As we slowly walked through the shop, the kids section changed to teenage books and there was a large section on online safety, pressures of social media and even now AI.
It was a very physical view of children enjoying an activity - reading, which we have done for generations. And then adults came along, invented mass communication, which has had such a detrimental effect on the happiness of children its got its own section in Waterstones.
Having worked on marketing reports written by youth organisations, that are all around the unhappiness of young people/the internet/social media I think the charity sector is guilty itself of just feeding this fire.
I would like to see a campaign for young people that is a social media blackout. My daughter is so happy and inquisitive when she’s reading a book, if there was an opportunity to get back to that moment in life I think everyone would take it.