[gibbitz]

The common denominator in this demographic (affluent youth) is social media. In my generation you judged yourself against the people in your school. How you look, how good your grades are, how well you can perform etc. The small pond made it easier to garner and sustain self-esteem and to measure growth. With social media the best in the world in each category is available to see with no insight into the advantages that got them there, just the stark reality of how far away from them you are. Seeking validation on social media leaves most teens severely self conscious. My daughter has been hospitalized for suicidal ideation and how she was treated by peers in social media was the reason.

If we think of church as a safer alternative, try scaling Sunday mass up to the size of Instagram or TikTok and it would get this toxic too. Who has the beat clothes, who's the most devout, who's the best mom, who has the best kids... Virtue signalling is what church is all about and that's just as competitive. Our brains are not wired to understand the scale of the internet in general and less developed brains even less so. Compounding that with the competitive nature of late capitalism is a recipe for higher suicide rates.

[emjoes1]

Though, if your in a church that is virtue signaling then you need to find a different church.

[FrustratedMonky]

Yes. My experience with youth church groups is they can be just as bad as high school groups. Just with some extra guilt and holier-than-thou providing even more extra dimensions for peer-judgment.

So scale that up on-line. Brutal.