By Pepper Parr
June 18th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
It is a question that is being asked at almost every level of society.
They are alienated, depressed, struggling to find a direction – they can’t get out of the circumstances they are in on their own.
Can we reconnect a generation? A mental health crisis is gripping young people, with rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness rising. As social bonds fray and digital life deepens isolation, experts are sounding the alarm and demanding action.
Numerous organizations are beginning to explore the complex drivers of youth wellbeing, highlighting opportunities to rebuild social ties, foster resilience, and develop lasting strategies to improve the mental health of young people.
The Gazette would like to hear what people in Burlington feel about this issue and invite them to leave their views in our comments section, which you can access at the bottom of this story.
The politicians talk about it; it is hard to identify anything they have done that is making a difference.
Parents feel lost as they cope with children who have to deal with being left out – day in and day out.
They are alienated, depressed, struggling to find a direction – they can’t get out of the circumstances they are in on their own…
Meanwhile – so many service organizations are looking for volunteers – especially from the younger generations.
To plant trees, help at Food Banks, Green Initiatives, working at events, helping seniors, participating with local ridings for political parties, etc. the list goes on.
Getting involved and volunteering in the community provides opportunities to rebuild social ties, foster resilience, and develop lasting strategies to improve mental health. Can be good exercise and gets users away from their digital devices.
There are many volunteer groups to choose from – but the first part of volunteering is to actually step up – and “volunteer”.
So many young people are dealing with mental health issues and we should not put the blame solely on Covid. The isolation affected everyone, however, I think there is much more involved.
As a senior I grew up without the internet, without social media. Were some children bullied at school – yes, but at least once they got home it stopped? With social media the bullying is 24-7.
We were not bombarded with complex issues like War, Global Warming, Finances, Artificial Intelligence etc. We were allowed to be children.
The internet is both a blessing and a curse and unfortunately many of the youth of today are grappling with what the future holds for them, dealing with peer pressure, and the need to be “perfect”.
We can’t go back and unfortunately our health system does not seem to be able to address this in a timely fashion. It can take months to get the help needed.
I find this very unsettling as I watch my grandchildren dealing with what I will term as the “new world order” as they question where and how they will fit into society.