“The problem with kids today is…”. You have probably heard comments like this from Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X’s (1965-1979), or Millennials (1980-1996) about the current generation, called Generation Z (1997-2012). They often have theories about why “children today are more problematic” than back in their times. How true is that?
Interestingly, this is something often said by every generation that reaches late adulthood: it is what the Silent Generation thought of the Boomers, what the Boomers thought of Gen X, and what Gen X thought of the Millennials. This means that there is always an expected generational shock of the new habits or attitudes that are developed by generations as a response to the current global events of the time. In other words, every generation has its problems, and the older ones always have a hard time accepting them.
Consequently, we can say that this generation also has its own share of problems. Through our eyes, Gen Z’s are often seen as “too sensitive”, “too spoiled”, and that they need to “toughen up”. But this view is through the filters of how we grew up, and the global events that our generation has lived through.
Let’s first consider the global events in which the Gen Z’s grew up: 9/11, climate change, school shootings, an increase in teen suicide, political unrest, the refugee crisis, and the tech & social media revolution. How have these events affected their mental health?
A study from the American Psychological Association found that Gen Z’s are strongly impacted by the news, especially those (events) that are beyond their control. Their strongest stressors related to the news were concerns about mass shootings, separation and deportation of immigrant and migrant families, and sexual harassment and assault reports. In addition, stressors such as debt, work, and housing instability were also commonly reported.
We can say the technological and social media revolution influenced that and has completely changed how the youth communicates and how they are exposed to input. They now have the news on the tip of their fingers, a notification every time a tragedy happens somewhere in the world. Nowadays, they have contact with people from everywhere, thus getting more engaged in global events that are far away from them. It is much easier to get personal about it.
How else has this revolution impacted them? If before youth would compare themselves with the kids from their block, or the kids from the (limited) tv shows, now they compare themselves to the whole (filtered) world given now they have access to it through a simple scroll on their phones. If before children would find out about pornography through their parents’ (or their parents’ friends) stash of adult magazines or films, today they find it through a quick search on the web. And instead of seeing a handful of pictures or films, they have free access to every single pornography category that we can think of.
The potential for harmful exposure is enormous, and we are still not prepared enough to prevent it. The consequence? We still do not know for certain. In the same study mentioned above, they found that Gen Z is most likely (27%) to report mental health concerns than Millennials (15%) and Gen X (13%).
Yet, there is an advantage this generation has over the previous ones: awareness of mental health like we have never seen before. Gen Z is talking more openly about mental health, being more open to seeking psychological help, and lowering the stigma that their older siblings, parents, and grandparents have over it. Therefore, I am inclined to wonder whether this is one of the reasons why they are more likely to report mental health concerns – if they are more aware of it, they are more likely to recognize it.
For this reason, I believe we can learn from them. We can learn to look within ourselves and reflect upon whether we are leading the lives we want, if we are indeed as good as we tell ourselves and others that we are. We can learn to understand what attitudes and behaviours we have that are negative to ourselves and work to overcome them.
At the end of the day, the problem with kids today is….whatever the current events dictate.
References
Bethune, S. (2019, January). Gen Z more likely to report mental health concerns. Monitor on Psychology, 50(1). http://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/01/gen-z
Keyes, K. M., Gary, D., O'Malley, P. M., Hamilton, A., & Schulenberg, J. (2019). Recent increases in depressive symptoms among US adolescents: trends from 1991 to 2018. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 54(8), 987–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01697-8