Social Media, Youth & PDD

Mar 13 / Donald Jenkins, CEO, MPDC
In an October 2023 Gallup News article by economist Dr. Jonathan Rothwell, teens spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media per day. The data was from a survey that examined parents and child well-being, parenting practices, youth mental health, youth activities, quality of parent-child relationships, etc. The effects of social media on mental health have been a subject of discussion for years. However, there has been virtually zero discussions on how the effects of social media and deficits in purpose could be responsible for robbing today's youths of potential to make the most out of a day.  

Parental Advice vs. Social Media Influencers

Our proprietary PDI Smart™ Model is one of the only research-based models in the world that scrutinizes decisions that are linked to the structural integrity of purpose. The Four Purpose Development Checkpoints™ provide accurate measures of how time and growth potential is utilized to make the most out of a day. 
The PDI Smart™ Model is the driving force behind our Intuitive Growth™ Performance Assessment. We used it in September of 2022 to conduct a survey with student-athletes to examine the decisions they made to get the most out of a day. This data helped us to rank student athletes Decision Performance™ based on their capacity to make meaning out of their surroundings.

This is a critical development and growth measure because of the popular life course theory used by psychologists and sociologists. Out of the five distinct principles associated with life course perspectives, parents should be most concerned about the human agency principle. This principle is related to an individual's capacity to determine and make meaning from their environment through purposive consciousness and reflective and creative action.   

In Purpose Development Coaching™, there are eight Decision Categories™ that make up purposive consciousness, which is simply the tendency to fulfill a conscious purpose or design. When thoughts about how to use the eight categories are deficient in purpose, the risk is high for making decisions that lead to wasting time and abandoning growth potential in a day. This is a classic example of the lack of Intuitive Growth™, which is simply how we have purposeful interactions with surroundings.

With today's youth spending an average of 33.6 hours per week to get an endorphin high from social media likes, Intuitive Growth™ among teens is on the decline. As a result, it's becoming increasingly hard for parental advice to compete with influencers. Instead of today's youth making wise use of time and growth potential in a day, many are suspending their ability to control human agency. Today's youth are spending more time becoming a product of environments than they are on making their environment contribute to their highest growth potential.     

To confirm our observation, we asked the student-athletes in our survey twenty-four questions that's directly linked to their control over human agency. Our focus groups included a secular and Christian college to confirm that Intuitive Growth™ is a blind spot regardless of spiritual up-bringing. Our findings proved that today's youth are struggling to maximize potential in a day due to limited control over human agency. (See survey details below) 

The Battle for Character Profiles™ 

Time and growth potential is the common denominator when it comes to getting the most out of a day. Every person is working with the same twenty-four hours a day, and we all have unlimited growth potential.

For years, parents, coaches, counselors, teachers, and mentors relied on good advice to help adolescents make decisions on how to maximize potential in a day. Unfortunately, kids are on advice overload, which makes them vulnerable to Purpose Deficit Disorders™ (PDD). 

PDD is not a medical condition but an enemy of the soul where surroundings undermine decisions that are powered by purpose. The presence of PDD is making it increasingly difficult for adolescents to make better use of their time and growth potential. It shows how their struggle is not so much about their willingness to follow advice, but their ability to exercise their capacity for meaning making. 
After learning about our evidence behind PDD, Harvard School of Negotiations Co-Founder Nikos Mourkogiannis called it the greatest risk epidemic in our society. Parents, coaches, counselors, teachers, and mentors must realize that PDD attacks human agency to undermine meaning making, which increases the risk for making decisions that lead to poor Character Profiles™.

The Character Profile™ is the ability to show up and make decisions to push potential and add value in a day. However, when the capacity to make meaning is impaired, today's youth will struggle to show up and make decisions for pushing potential and bringing value to their day. 

To win the battle against time spent of social media and PDD, we must realize that the Character Profile™ is inextricably connected to meaning making.

Parents, coaches, counselors, teachers, and mentors must upgrade their skills to help today's youth become Practitioners of Purpose™. This is a critical step in helping adolescents restore their capacity for meaning making, which translates into making better use of their time and growth potential. Otherwise, the risk will remain high for the time spent on social media to rob potential in a day. 

Click Here to upgrade your skills with our Purpose Fit™ Masterclass. Increase your knowledge for helping today's youth win the Character Profile™ battle so they can make better use of their time and growth potential. 
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