Solitude: A Flashlight Under the Covers

By Diana Senechal

I was struck by the thought contained in a recent opinion piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer . Discussing a familiar topic—the prevalence of online networking among teenagers—Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of education history at New York University, took a different tack. Unlike many who either praise this digital activity or warn of its external dangers, Zimmerman brought up a rarely mentioned subject: the loss of solitude.

“Once you’re ‘always on,’ as the kids describe it,” wrote...