Causes of Polarization: Safetyism, Screens, and the End of Free Play for Children

In the late 1980s an epidemic of fear swept across North America as the news media played-up a handful of child-kidnapping and murder stories in the United States. Children, who for decades were allowed to play freely with each other on their own outdoors found themselves reigned-in by their parents who were terrified they would be next victim of kidnapping.

A culture of increased safetyism resulting from a lower-risk threshold in the general culture combined with the rise of screen-based play conspired further to keep children indoors and under close parental and teacher watch. It prevented kids from experiencing the kinds of play and risk-taking that helps them not just learn to manage and resolve conflicts on their own, but also grow into resilient adults. Today those children, and the subsequent generations, are taking their place in society, and show a marked inability to manage discomfort, adversity and disagreement.

This is most visible on university campuses today where the demand for ‘safe spaces’ and ‘cancel' initiatives against those whose viewpoints are challenging, and thus deemed injurious, are both practised. These ideas and attitudes are often later brought to, applied in, the professional workplace.

When societies are on the rise, they are ready to take on challenge and risk and accept a degree of uncertainty. As they grow prosperous and comfortable, they are less likely to take risks and shun challenge in favour of increased safetyism. A left hemisphere dominated population will also be overly concerned with certainty, and therefore always be attracted to low risk scenarios. This creates a polarized dynamic between them, and those who espouse a different view on, and approach to, life.

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Read our next post in the series: Causes of Polarization: News Media Dualities and Social Media Conflict.