4 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Īccording to the survey results, 35% of youth reported that their parents or siblings had attended BLM demonstrations and also that their family’s engagement similarly brought about positive emotions. Their findings were reported the week of Oct. However, these experiences and emotions are essential for development and can motivate adolescents to address the injustices they witness and encounter in their lives.”Īrielle Baskin-Sommers, associate professor at Yale in psychology and psychiatry and co-lead author, Simmons, and BJ Casey, a professor of psychology and senior author, surveyed participants as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. “Yes, adolescents did report stressful experiences and emotions when engaging with BLM. “Popular commentary likes to suggest that exposure to social justice movements like the BLM movement can add needless stress to adolescents’ lives,” said Cortney Simmons, co-lead author of the study and Yale postdoctoral researcher. Importantly, though, in addition to reporting positive experiences associated with the BLM movement, Black respondents also noted significantly higher feelings of fear and anger during their engagement. In a national survey of nearly 5,000 young people across the United States, ages 11 to 15, 70% of respondents reported engaging with the BLM movement through television, social media, or attending in-person demonstrations, and that the events promoted feelings of hope and inspiration. The police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020 unleashed an historic wave of activism across the United States, including an estimated 8,000 mass demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM).Ī new Yale study focused on adolescent development finds that this rise in demonstrations and the subsequent media coverage had a profound effect on the nation’s youth.
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