Most of us born in the late 90’s and very early 2000s get this. To other users, here’s what I mean.
I don’t feel like Gen Z. I didn’t grow up with unlimited internet access. It was totally a huge part of the world from a young age, like smartphones were a thing pretty early in my childhood. But tablet toddlers were unheard of, forget even dreaming of an elementary schooler having social media. The stereotypical tiktok gen z seems so strange to me. I hate tiktok, it’s so toxic. I’m also not a millennial. The group of kids born in this strange in-between era seem to have gone so many separate directions. Some of us are incredibly motivated to be successful. I know many who have already fallen victim to addiction. College drop-outs. Young adults wandering in lostness and confusion. COVID-19 really messed us up too. I got through it, but it screwed up many of my peers. Bright futures totally lit on fire, kids without the coping skills to handle it. Not to mention how young kids have been affected- I work in education and the results of the pandemic on grade school kids are so scary.
We grew up in a post 9/11 world, with no memory of the attacks, but keen awareness of how it changed the world. The war in the middle east in our early years. The great recession. School shootings on the rise- this also messed us up really bad. I was in 5th grade when Sandy Hook happened. Such a pivotal moment for me, my world perspective changed overnight. We are staring into a future of global warming, international conflict, economic instability, student debt and political instability. We are wondering how in the hell are we going to afford to live- at least I am.
Every generation of young adults has had their own struggles. The Greatest Generation had WWII and the great depression, the silent generation had the Korean war and Cold War tensions. The Boomers had Vietnam and assassination after assassination, gen X had the AIDs Crisis, the ‘end’ of the cold war. Millennials had 9/11, the great recession and the digitalization of the world. The youngest gen z’s are 12, but have already gotten COVID and social media (for better or worse).
We are also all so very different. Many people I know grew up with everything fed to them on a silver spoon. Others grew up with work ethic instilled in them from a young age. Some of us clearly identify with gen z, but others fall somewhere in between even if their birth year is technically gen z. Feel free to comment any thoughts. I wonder what my generation will be like in 10 years, and any insight is welcome.
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