Home » The Trouble with Today’s Youth: Gen Z
Generation Z, or Gen Z, is the group born roughly between 1997 and 2009. Born to the Millennials, this generation grew up with what we would not call modern technology. They are the generation most used to the constant bombardment of information, advertisements, and eye-candy of all sorts. They are the generation that first experienced so many of the things their parents and certainly grandparents new as standard technology drop by the wayside. Many have never been to a phone booth, never held a VCR tape, have never put a needle on a record, have never seen a television station play the national anthem and sign off for the night, and have never heard a phone busy signal. They are the first generation that technology has move on so far and so fast that the distance between them and their grandparents generation is technologically several generations away. This is where the truly big gap starts. These people have never known a world without cheap, reliable cell phone coverage for their handheld computers (smartphones), were the first generation to not be taught handwriting in school, but also understands the difference between Instagram, Twitter (or X), and Pinterest and most importantly how to use them all. They are also a global generation, communicating and receiving news from other countries quicker and easier than any other generation before them, so it makes them more globally aware and able to see the impact their country and others are having on the environment. Unfortunately, all the information bombardment comes at a cost. There are only so many hours in a day and with more and more and more able to be done, gaming, checking feeds and blogs, the latest Tiktok trends, as well as keeping up with friends is almost a full-time job in and of itself, so we find the first generation that truly has a social deficit or awkwardness due to a lack of developed social skills. There parents were one of the first generations to begin to get offended by everything and this has trickled down to the cancel culture having grabbed a hold of this generation more so than others. Previous generations would only truly be able to yell exactly what they thought of someone else’s actions as they were being cut off on the highway, but the keyboard warriors of this generation have learned they can get their frustration out at the world by saying anything they like to others online without any consequences or care of what repercussions this might have on others. They are probably the most extreme generation as they are also probably the most diverse. This can often mean they are the least understood generation as they have advanced beyond the others further and quicker in their lifetime. Their progeny are Gen Alpha, who the oldest are now in their teens. It will still be a few years before we are able to see how this generation has done as parents, but since the trend seems to be sloping down with every generation, we can only hope the trend will break here.