Generation Z Mistakes, Growth and Maturity | Teen Ink

Generation Z Mistakes, Growth and Maturity

April 13, 2018
By Peeta BRONZE, Vancouver, Washington
Peeta BRONZE, Vancouver, Washington
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

People think very low of this generation but older generations thought the younger generation were ungrateful entitled little brats, while most of the stereotypes are very much true for this generation such as being lazy, unaware (to an extent), love to party, don’t see value in anything etc.
 
“Since 1993, the percentage of eighth-graders who have tried alcohol declined by 59%, compared to a 40% decrease for 10th-graders and 26% for 12th-graders.
12th-graders saying they go on dates. When the first survey was issued, about 85% of high-school seniors said they go on dates; by 2014, about 58% did.”

I didn’t go on my first date till this year, and I know people who didn’t go on their first date till they were juniors, also there are some people who still haven’t gone on their first date and they are seniors.

One of the good things about this generation that no one really talks about is that a lot of us are independent so going on dates, and trying alcohol is not as big of a deal; yeah there are people who drink etc., but it’s not as common as it use to be when out parents and grandparents were growing up. A problem that this generation has is that we are lazy, because we can take pictures of the work, or just call someone if we need help, also the amount of screen time is insane. I’ll be with my nieces and nephews and the amount of communication between us and them is very limited sometimes because they have headphones in, or just their faces are in their screens.

 

“They are calling for schools to put more on the syllabus about finance, sex and relationships, and politics. At the same time, the parliament has focused on tackling racism, religious discrimination and the dangers of hate speech.”


This may be in England (UK) but it is also being requested by students here in the US. we want to learn about stuff that we will need in real life. I know quite a few kids who want to learn about how to do taxes, in my AP Lang class had us write an essay, but a lot of us wanted to learn how to do taxes, so our teacher showed us. In health we don’t really talk about sex it’s kind of a taboo subject which is a lot of the reason why when kids get to the age of puberty, they don’t really know what to do so they experiment themselves which results in quite a few cases pregnancy, and the kids don’t know what to do because they didn’t use protection due to it being “embarrassing”  when going to the store. 


If anything it’s the older generation that refuses to listen because we are kids and “don’t know what we are talking about” if we don’t know than teach us we want to learn, we want to be able to grow and be successful because it hard for us to be better than previous generations in this economy and the way the world is, in a lot of ways it’s a lot harder to do anything because we live in a world with really high standards. 


“Generation Z never had the luxury of a threat-free perspective so they’ve been forced to view life through a more guarded lens from the start. One generational expert, Neil Howe, even suggests that they be called the “Homeland Generation” and defined by a post-9/11 birth date beginning in 2004. The wary worldview of this group is further shaped by generation X parents, who came of age in the post-Watergate and Vietnam years amidst a time of economic and global uncertainty and who are now obsessed with creating a safer world for their kids.”  Because of a lot of our parents grew up during Vietnam and Watergate we never really got to know a world that didn’t have any threats especially since all of generation z was really young when 9/11 happened but we still know how significant that day is because not only did 3,000 innocent americans died but also it was the deadliest attack on American soil, we grew up with hearing about it every year during the anniversary of the horrible event.

“Technology. Gen Z has never known a world without smartphones and social media, so it’s even more ingrained for them than millennials. They gobble up information quickly and are ready to move on to the next thing in an eyeblink”.  Those of us in Gen Z who were born in the 90’s to at least 2001 know what it’s like to have phones were you had internet on it but you had to pay quite a bit of money just to use it, in elementary we had an electronic policy but it applied to 5th graders but when I went to my nieces school she was in 4th grade I noticed these kids have smartphones out during lunch it was interesting to see especially since I didn’t get my first smartphone my freshman year and my first phone when I was in 5th grade. While it is true we can’t live in our phones, it isn’t completely all of our fault because a lot of us are still kids and live with our parents, meaning we are still learning responsibility. While it is fascinating how kids can just go on after just looking up something but parents have a say on how much screen time they get, while yes it’s ingrained in our generation but parents could’ve limited our screen time.

 

The truth is, every generation has its problems and has to mature into solving them. Every generation feels like the younger generation is troublemakers, don’t know anything, and are disrespectful. But, every generation finds its own way if it's allowed to make mistakes and learn from them.



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on Apr. 30 2018 at 4:54 pm
Killerworm990, Cupertino, California
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Id say that they are lazy and entitled. While being a part of it myself(ive heard im entitled before, even from one of my own relatives), im different from most members of this generation. Im a conservative, I understand the value of work, i dont eat tide pods, snort condoms, or go lose my virginity. Im proud to be pro gun and pro life