I Receive a Letter from a High School Student

I share this dispatch from 11th grade in its entirety

I’m often busy after midnight—that’s when I finally find time to respond to emails that accumulate during the day. A lot of them are just press releases and pitches, but some are personal letters that demand my attention.

I received an email late last night from a youngster. I’ve decided to share it in its entirety below.

The email was entitled: “Thoughts from a high school student if you care to listen.”

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My young correspondent provides a firsthand response to the ongoing debate about digital culture, smartphones, scrolling apps, and their impact on teens.

I stirred up lots of discussion on this subject with my recent “State of the Culture” article. And a month later, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt unleashed a hornets’ nest of arguments with the publication of his book The Anxious Generation—which deals with many of the same issues I addressed in my article.

I view the situation in terms of human creativity and the humanities. Haidt reaches similar conclusions while drawing on social sciences and lots of empirical research.

But what do teens themselves think of all this?

I expect to hear more response from them in the near future. Teachers are assigning my article in classrooms, and some have promised to give me feedback.

In the interim, I have this smart and moving email.

The writer is surprisingly mature and articulate for an 11th grade student—especially when you consider that (as he mentions) he wrote the email in a hurry before tackling his chemistry homework.

I asked whether I could publish it anonymously, but he gave me permission to share his name (which you will find at the bottom, along with my brief response).

I’m publishing it below with almost no edits. I’ve worked as an editor, and rarely get such clean copy even from professional journalists.

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Thoughts from a high school student if you care to listen

Dear, Mr. Gioia,

I am writing to you to express my absolute gratitude. This gratitude stems from your article “The Real Crisis in Humanities Isn't Happening at College”. But before I go into my understanding of your article I would like to give some context about today.

This morning when I got to school I was drained, the state of being for an average high school student, and so when I saw that my English teacher posted an assignment I sighed. I believed it was just something I needed to add to my list of work, but when I got to his class and began reading your article the absolute passion of learning was instilled in me.

I truly cannot describe what made me feel this way as I don’t ever really read, I am absolutely, a “screenager”. But I was astounded by this article and as an 11th grader in high school this article hit very close to home. 

I am at a crossroads in my life as a student who needs to seek a college degree. I find myself extremely interested in humanities and frankly, I am better at being a human than making a robot. Yet, I still plan to pursue a degree in the STEM or business field.

I’m not the most academically gifted but I am very human. I say that I’m human in the sense that I seek to live life rather than survive. I truly think the human experience of laughing, crying, and dying is something precious. One of my favorite quotes is, “A life that is worth living has no shortcuts” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

I think my fascination with your article stems from the fact that I am a first-hand witness to what you describe. I am spoonfed media on a golden platter and there is nothing I can do to escape it, and yet I have a deep understanding of humanity on a personal level.

Here’s a quick analysis of how the effects of social media have affected the younger generation if you care to listen: I think that teenagers now are a result of a broken system. Systemic flaws that plague society as a whole are a result of technological corruption and being fed algorithms.

“I am witnessing my peers and younger kids begin to resent technology simply because of everything it has taken from them.”

But, an interesting observation I have seen is that empathetic relations between teenagers are at an all-time high. I feel this way because now, due to access to social media, kids are witnessing the atrocities of the world and this creates empathy. However, something more interesting that I have noticed is that empathy does not go hand in hand with the desire for individual success.

Kids are growing up more empathetic but are also becoming increasingly selfish. We all care about the broken system, the starving children, but few are willing to enact change. I believe that this is a result of selfishness. Kids are acutely aware but simply lack the desire to do something about it and it creates some strange paradox where everybody wants to make a difference and change the world but nobody is willing to change themselves to enact change.

Anyways, after my class read this article we were divided, some like myself absolutely adored it, while others were sick of hearing that all of humanity's problems are caused by “that damn phone.” Although I understand the latter's perception of the article I think it has something very interesting to offer, it challenges the notion that academia is supreme.

I would like to give my two cents. Some aspects of your argument that academia has and always will fail to follow societal changes are historically correct. But, I believe the problem stems from a legacy of supremacy and elitism that has prevailed throughout history in the academic sphere. Academia has remained and always will remain exclusive, it is a ravaging disparity between society as a whole and no doubt bridging the two will not come anytime soon.

However, you state that, “respect for humanistic learning will return. But only after the humanities demonstrate their power and worth in the world.” I don’t think that humanities necessarily have to “prove” its worth in the world because I think the urgency for the desire of the resurrection of the humanities exists. The problem lies in the systemic flaws found within what I like to call, the technological black hole.

Kids are stuck in an age of simplicity and ease, attention spans are decreasing, the yearning to actually learn something has plummeted, and yet, I feel sympathy because students like those are simply a product of their environment. Before we can address the need for humanities I think it's important to fix our current world. The issue lies in the fact that we MUST urge academic institutions to actually do something to promote the humanities, it is a lost treasure that must be excavated and we start that by emphasizing it in our schools.

“Students are realizing the importance of human connection and actually crave it, but see technology as a barrier.”

That era of change is now. We need to encourage schools to have a holistic view of the humanities because when has a liberal arts college been included in an academic conversation besides being the butt of a joke? And yet students being able to pursue academic ventures in understanding the human experience whether it be history, philosophy, or any aspect of human existence, promotes an introspective view of the humanities.

I am witnessing my peers and younger kids begin to resent technology simply because of everything it has taken from them. It has robbed them of a life that is fulfilling and actually worth living. Technology has altered people's perception of reality and it has created an absolute echo chamber of villainizing and dehumanization.

Now, students are realizing the importance of human connection and actually crave it, but see technology as a barrier to achieving human connection. I could go on and on about how much your article has impacted my views and helped me appreciate the humanities more but, this email just comes from a place of wanting to get it off my chest.

Please feel free to offer any criticism or thoughts about this email for I am genuinely curious to hear what you have to say. Please excuse any grammatical errors or bad grammar for I am desperately trying to finish all my work. After writing this email I will most definitely go do some chemistry homework but that's a part of the human experience too I assume.

Sincerely,

Jadon Chung

Jadon Chung is a high school junior who lives in Los Angeles. He is a student at Burbank High School, where his favorite class in English.

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In case you’re interested, here is my response to Jadon:

Dear Jadon,

I want to thank you for sharing these thoughts and experiences with me—but even more for the honesty and concern with which you present them.

I must say that your email impressed me greatly. You think clearly. You write well. And you clearly care about what you're discussing. I would be surprised to find this level of thoughtfulness and maturity in a college student. But for a high school student—hurrying off an email (as you describe it) before tackling your chemistry homework—what you communicated is especially striking.

You definitely caught my attention.

Just based on reading this, I have great confidence that you will develop your mind and spirit, and make a contribution to those around you. If you trust your heart, you will do well. I honestly don't feel I need to add anything more to this, in terms of advice or guidance. You are already on your way.

Let me wish you all the best on your life's journey.

Warmest regards,

Ted Gioia

P.S. Could I have your permission to share all or part of your email? I might make a few small edits, mostly breaking the sentences into paragraphs. Let me know. I think others might benefit from reading it.

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One final point before signing off: I want to respond to those who claim that discussions of this sort are attacks on young people.

The reality is the exact opposite.

All of my criticisms are targeted at the leaders of the large tech platforms. They own this mess. The youngsters are their victims.

Some participants in the debate may have a hostile or dismissive opinion of teenagers, but the obvious suspects are technocrats who make millions (or in some cases, billions) of dollars off the commercial exploitation of youngsters.

Instead of blaming the messengers, we do well to demand accountability from those who treat vulnerable youngsters as captive tech clients, not flesh-and-blood human beings.