By Ebenezer Appiah, Staff Writer
As a member of Gen Z myself, I’ve always been interested in examining the varying differences between our generation and those that precede us. The most common narrative I find associated with our generation is one of unabashed, outspoken, changemakers. For the most part, that holds true. Gen Z falls nowhere short of being one of the most vocal and engaged generations. However, beyond the smoke and mirrors is a veil of angst and worry.
Conversations surrounding the subject of mental health amongst Gen Z are all but new, but I want to briefly examine the ways in which this veil has been created and work towards offering potential solutions in remedying these issues. To start, at the heart of Gen Z lies a few life-changing events, the most notable being the COVID-19 pandemic. For nearly 2 years, our generation lost crucial development periods of our lives. Students engaged with their peers and friends in the comfort of their bedrooms, through a 15-inch rectangular screen. To say the word “engage” is disingenuous, for the reality that many of us shared were days of what seemed to be an endless cycle of rotting away, unable to share laughs with closest friends, speak to our most beloved teachers, and enjoy the experience that was highschool.
At its core, the pandemic created a shift in the mental state of Gen Z, however, it is not the root. I think the most effective way to view the pandemic was an addition to the baggage Gen Z would soon have to confront. The pandemic accelerated the process, to what was likely our demise, and took away much of our innocence. The height of the pandemic signaled two phenomena. First, a growing rate of engagement in activism, in part due to the seemingly endless time we had to kill while in quarantine. Second, the murder of George Floyd and growing criticisms of the American Police System, specifically regarding its treatment of BIPOC bodies. Both of these events created substantial change, which unequivocally benefitted and united the social consciousness of our generation and further revealed the power we held as the population of the youth.
In addition, it also served as a first taste of the very grim reality we were to face in the coming years. These social conversations did not stop there, as increased interest in social issues urged Gen Z to further explore and deconstruct injustice in all facets. We soon realized that we would bear the brunt of much of this injustice. Ranging from economic insecurity to environmental degradation, our lives as the future adults of this nation serve as a painful reminder of what we have to endure. Family values, and career planning amongst our generation is almost an afterthought, with many concerned with a growingly volatile job market and increasing demands for more extensive higher education. What seems to be our way of coping with such worries, is an overreliance on media, and constant mass consumption. These are the very direct ways that have shaped many of the social norms we have adopted. Examples such as the rise of hook-up culture and instant dating, and the growing radicalization of young and impressionable Gen Z males. These are all part of a larger response to many of the structural issues outlined earlier.
The inability to imagine a world where like our parents and grandparents, we own homes in our late twenties and look towards a prospective marriage has led us to adopt solutions of our own. What experts prescribe to be a “pragmatic” approach to dating and romance, Gen Z has almost entirely forgone the ideal of long-term intimacy, and we can’t be blamed for it.
Further reinforced by an age in which pop culture icons, influencers, and media platforms revel in these ideals as well. Whereas in the past, our parents and grandparents almost exclusively picked up dating norms from their parental figures, Gen Z has an abundance of countervailing narratives in regards to romance and intimacy. As a result, Gen Z methodology with respect to dating is far more individualized than ever seen before. However, understanding the plight we face is only the first step in remedying the struggles we face.
At its core, the first place we can start is simply by abandoning this angst entirely. Of course, this is easier said than done but we need to shape our lives in accordance with what we truly desire as opposed to what makes sense in light of our circumstances. Society at large already does an excellent job at conditioning us to live our lives in a very pragmatic sense, we shouldn’t additionally impose that burden upon ourselves.