Before I jumped into my post, I wanted to give you all some information about the Calgary Reads Book Sale! This is a wonderful organization that allows Calgarians to purchase books at accessible prices for all to enjoy. My favorite part about this organization is its goal to improve literacy among young children. The fact that you can even understand what I am conveying right now, is a reason for you to be grateful and appreciative. As our world becomes more reliant on communication and technology, literacy is a must to ensure a successful, innovative, and inspiring future for us, specifically, Gen Z. The sale ended earlier this month, but keep the name in mind for next year!
In this post, I am going to touch on the primary points I find the most relevant to understanding Gen Z (for your reference, Gen Z is referred to as the generation of people born from 1997 to 2012) and looking to the future of our malleable community. Hopefully, this doesn’t feel like too much of a rant, but if it does, then I hope you enjoy it!
An older perspective…
Do you remember when all of those statistics about mental health concerns in Gen Z started to rise? Or maybe articles about how Gen Z is too sensitive? Although there may be a bit of truth to some of these claims, I am often frustrated by the ignorance and lack of understanding we receive.
The other day, I saw an Instagram post that claimed that Gen Z points out everything that’s wrong with the world, but doesn’t want to change it. From an outside perspective, I can understand this thought process. Our development/enhancement of cancel culture is a perfect example of this. Issues like climate change were, and still are, very important to the younger generation, but it seems like all we do is advocate for these issues instead of actually addressing them.
As Roe V Wade is being targeted, we are once again seeing the influence of Gen Z regarding societal issues older people may not think involve us. Despite the constant bombardment of degrading and invalidating comments we face from older generations, we continue to advocate for issues we feel passionate about. We foster close knit communities for each other to innovate and share ideas for the future.
Our dilemma: The stress and obligations of it all.
Here’s the big question: Contrary to popular belief, if we aren’t spending all our time simply complaining about the “political and socio economic state of the world” (sorry, Jaden Smith reference), what are we doing? If we are really trying to make an impact behind the scenes, why don’t older generations realize this?
The mental state of Gen Z is more fragile than most, and to some, this is a sign of weakness and laziness for the future. For those of us holding up posters and making angry Instagram posts, millennials, Gen X, and Boomers are to blame.
Rather than spending our teenage years partying and making memories at an arcade every weekend like many of our parents did, we young advocates are busy stressing about the future of our world.
Instead of worrying about whether our shirt matches our pants, we worry about what changes to Roe V Wade, climate change, imbalances in the Senate, and many more issues will mean for our world. Most of us are literally carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.
To adults: Forgive us for not running for political office each time we see injustice on the streets. At our age, advocating, addressing, and living normal teenage lives do not easily go hand in hand.
Boo hoo! We’re Misunderstood. What next?
Wallowing our sorrows isn’t going to do anything. Instead, it will further prove all the doubts and assumptions older generations make about us. I know it’s hard to think about the future of the world and that someday and that we’ll be the ones to run it, but I believe wholeheartedly that we have the potential to make the world a better place than any generations before us.
In short: a community of anxious teenagers to not make a group of even worse ones. Instead, it fosters a community that values growth, problem solving, and support. These factors, and many more, are why I am so grateful to be a part of Gen Z.