Highway to hell
Newborn babies have no desire or compulsion other than to receive the loving warmth and milk of their mothers. Then, up to the age of 10 to 12 years, children aren’t interested in entertaining themselves by worrying about their futures. They’re just happy to be alive, to be. For the most part, it’s usually a time of blissful innocence - but then this golden age of childhood comes to quite an abrupt end at the onset of puberty.
While the transition from childhood to sexual maturity is a normal and natural part of life, it doesn’t come without its challenges. These fledgling pubescents, whose bodies are beginning to be flooded with sex hormones, now also feel compelled to focus their attention on who they are, and what their place in the world is. Under ideal conditions, this can already be a tough enough thing to handle, but life in the modern world has succeeded in making it even tougher.
The minds of children entering puberty have already, for many years, been bombarded with such massive amounts of information via the internet, as well as more traditional forms of media, that they’re simply full-up and overflowing. Aggressive advertising, cheap entertainment based in sensationalism and egoistic self-promotion, as well as other forms of mostly useless attention grabbing nonsense, have competed against the other major source of information in the lives of children, the education system.
To put things into perspective, by the start of puberty, the children of today have already been exposed to more information than people perhaps even just one or two generations ago might have received in a full lifetime. For many, it’s simply too much to handle, both mentally and physically. Why should we even be surprised as to the growing prevalence of attention deficit disorder? We created the problem. And what solution does our modern world offer for it? Yes, drug therapy. Perhaps the most effective solution, which is to simply reduce the amount of information our children are subjected to, is just too obvious to notice? Why does any child need to have access to their smartphone 24/7? And who is responsible for that? Again, the answer is obvious.

So, this is the road our youth have already been on for most of their lives, even before beginning the critical phase of moving towards sexual maturity. In terms of the stress and strain on the mind, it seems the children of today have already lived a lifetime before even beginning to deal with their physical and emotional desires and compulsions, and experimentation with forming intimate relationships. This sense of already having experienced everything easily leads to a general state of boredom; and when you’re bored, the usual cure is to try something new — but what is there left to do when you’ve experienced everything? Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the kinds of problems that can manifest when you mix extreme boredom and puberty.
We’ve created a world where too much happens too earlier for too many young people. When the mind becomes overwhelmed, it shifts into survival mode, which is only focused on feeding one’s own immediate compulsions, with little thought for the welfare of others. This kind of learned selfish behaviour manifests as distorted views about how to create and develop healthy, happy and truly satisfying relationships. It’s a recipe for disaster, yet so many people continue to follow it into adulthood. Is it any wonder as to the degree of dysfunctional people and relationships we’re seeing these days? And, again, what’s the modern cure? That’s right, more medication, now often in the form of anti-depressants.
The greatest tragedy here is that the supposedly wise of this world, the grown-ups (and I use that term very loosely), have let it happen, despite how obvious the problem is. Children can’t be blamed for their innocence, but the ignorance of adults is another thing altogether. But when you go out into the world, what do you see? So many people seem to exist in what can only be described as a half-alive half-dead state, as if they’re playing their roles in some kind of dressed up and polished zombie apocalypse. When you’re living in a state of collective psychosis, it’s just so easy to convince yourself that everything you’re doing is completely normal.
When you see the types of lives that the adults of this modern world are willing to accept, what chance do our children have? Maybe it’s time to have the courage to start thinking differently to what’s considered normal? Maybe it’s time to realise that the answer is not more, but less? Maybe it’s time to take the next off-ramp on this highway to hell that we’ve unconsciously been moving down for far too long? There’s a growing number of people who are waking up out of their zombie slumbers, and who have successfully been able to redirect their lives down a much quieter road leading to a place called Simpletown. At least that’s the way I’m headed … and if that means I’ll end up being called a simpleton, well, I’ll joyfully wear the title.
The audiovisual version of this REFRAME series post on YouTube here.
If you enjoyed this post, please leave a like. You can also check out the entire Reframe video log series, in which I offer a range of perspectives on leading a satisfying and happy life, which I hope will be of use and interest, as well as a source of inspiration, on your own personal journey. — Jyri Manninen

