Learning Happiness From the Peanuts Gang

In the song “Happiness,” the Peanuts characters sing about the simple things they’re grateful for. (moviestilldb)

A few months ago, I went with a friend to see a local performance of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Although generally familiar with the Peanuts characters, I had never seen the musical before, and came away rather amused by all the philosophical truths sprinkled throughout the simple script and songs.

It wasn’t until several weeks later, however, that I was struck by the meaning of one of the final numbers, “Happiness.” The lyrics are basically a laundry list of the things that bring joy to the lives of the elementary-school-age characters: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, and others.

This song came to mind when I came across a Gallup poll discussing the happiness of Gen Z. Poll data shows that a quarter of Gen Z kids are unhappy, something that Gallup says plays into the fact that the United States was recently knocked off the top 20 list of happiest countries. Some of the reasons given for this unhappiness include a lack of interest and motivation in work and school and a directionless feeling about life in general.

Why is the younger generation wrestling with such feelings of unhappiness? I’d be the first to concede that some very big, obvious things play into that answer, but I also wonder if there aren’t also some smaller, less noticeable reasons underlying this unhappiness epidemic.

Stating the Obvious and Less Obvious

It’s no secret that society’s addiction to digital devices has increased loneliness, while also creating huge fears about “missing out.” Nor is it a secret that a greater percentage of the younger generation is religiously unaffiliated.

Put differently, the presence of phones and the absence of God are doing a lot to spur the unhappiness of the present generation, likely because both factors spur a purposeless life. The former does so through its encouragement to aimlessly scroll and compare oneself to others; the latter does so because it removes accountability to a higher, all-knowing being who has a perfect plan for each life. Thus, reversing both these issues would go a long way in improving the happiness of the current generation.

A less obvious factor playing into the unhappiness of Gen Z could be the increasing presence of things such as social-emotional learning (SEL) in today’s schools. As Abigail Shrier writes in her recent book, “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up,” SEL training instructs teachers to create group therapy sessions in their classrooms, encouraging kids to share their personal and familial problems with their teachers and classmates.

While such sharing may be beneficial at times, fixating on the bad can also bog down children, causing them not only to dwell on their own problems, but on those of others—some of which are bigger and more serious than many children should be exposed to at young ages. Participate in a few of these sessions, and it will likely become clear why young people are so depressed!

Expressing Gratitude

A third reason why Gen Z is struggling with unhappiness may simply be that we haven’t taught them to value and express gratitude for the little things in life.

“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune, that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day,” Benjamin Franklin wrote in his “Autobiography,” using the example of teaching young people to work with their hands rather than simply handing them a wad of money:

“Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. The money may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors; he shaves when most convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with a good instrument.”

That may be Gen Z’s problem. They’ve come to believe—whether through social media or otherwise—that their lives are worthless unless they’re doing the great things or experiencing the best life has to offer. And because of the participation trophy culture, they’ve also accepted the idea that those great and good things should be handed to them on a platter. In doing so, they overlook the simple advantages and blessings in their life, choosing the path of misery instead.

How can we teach our children otherwise? Charlie Brown’s “Happiness” song gives us a clue. It shows the Peanuts gang expressing gratitude for life’s simple pleasures, such as “pizza with sausage,” “learning to whistle,” or “climbing a tree.”

Think it’s impossible to teach your children to value these little pleasures in life?

It’s actually not—at least, not if you raise your children the old-fashioned way. That means that when society says every child in a family should have his own room, then your children should learn to share one with siblings. It means that when your kids ask if the family can go out to eat, you pull together sandwiches at home and head out to the park for a picnic instead. And if your kids plead for a certain toy or game, then it means you find unusual chores around the house—such as vacuuming the furniture or organizing the garage—through which they can earn the funds to purchase their desired item.

In this way, children aren’t denied the good things in life; rather, they simply learn to wait, work hard, and find other paths than the normal ones through which to experience pleasure. And by doing so, they also learn to count their blessings and find joy and delight in the simple things in life—just like the Peanuts crew.