Gen Z, our generation, is said to be one changing the world. And we are: Fridays For Future, Black Lives Matter – we care more about the world than any other generation before us. But we also are pressured. The world expects us to save it, society tells us to stand in a row.
We are growing up on a dying planet.
We are constantly losing hope.
We are worried about our future.
This generation is open-minded and has the desire to learn. We protect differences and celebrate self-love, we fight against social issues like homophobia, we are marching to save the planet. And yet, the other generations dare to call us lazy… They complain about us being too used to technology and that we are depressed and egoistic for no reason. Moreover, we‘re supposed to grow up, while other people still seem to live in the 1980’s.
They taught us to stand up for ourselves as long as we don’t stand up for something that differs from what they believe. As a result of that, the barrier between the generations increases. Teenagers feel misunderstood and constricted. I only know a handful adults which are as open-minded and understanding as my generation, and BTS takes seven places in this list.
Why are teenagers so angry?
Because around the age of twelve, we start realising all of this. The child-perspective fades away and we start seeing more and more of a cruel reality.
Teenage activists are being told that they are too young, too naive and too immature. Therefore we aren’t allowed to take part in important political discussions: It’s called adult stuff, even though they are debating our future. No wonder that we don’t trust them anymore to get things done properly. But they are right in one point: We are too young. We shouldn’t have to worry like this, but here we are. No generalizations should be made about a generation, but we are the one‘s getting our hands dirty most of the time, while the other generations are the one‘s holding power.
PS: Listen to "The Kids Are Coming" by Tones and I