Generation Gap

[Dtris]

Coming from a 20-something, social media is wreaking havoc on the collective consciousness of everyone my age. I am off social media for the most part and that has helped. But anxiety and depression run so rampant with so many people my age and below. It has become very normalized and a common subject of self-depreciating jokes. I know that these conditions are real and affect some people that live healthy lifestyles. But I can't help but feel like a huge part of the widespread depression and anxiety is a result of overstimulation and extreme self-consciousness brought about by social media as well as the uphill climb in society to avoid high fructose corn syrup and other highly processed, also normalized, meals.

A lot of our parents don't know any better than to feed us that crap, and once you grow up on it, it is hard to change. I am seeing a lot of people my age as they get in to their 20s begin caring deeply about their health though. There has definitely been a sort of mass public health wake up that all of the food from chains and processing is not good for us. I think social media played a part in that 'wake up' as well. A lot of us are overstimulated and overinformed haha

You are right. This is the biggest difference between older generations and todays gen z and younger. I am an older millennial and grew up without computers, making sun tea, sitting on the porch, riding bikes, wrestling in the grass, playing street sports, and generally living a simpler life. I was a teenager when when we got the internet and remember AoL and Yahoo chat rooms and early forums. Growing up with the tech changes gives millennials a unique perspective that gen x and older and the younger crowd do not have. Having experienced the wild west of the internet also is something that can not be recaptured.

Teenagers and kids in general have the same problems they have always had. Teenagers always think their parents don't understand, no one does, and that they are unique in their issues and no one has ever gone thru the same. But people are people and everything happens in cycles. As someone who has spent the better part of my adult life teaching children I can see there are differences, but there are a lot of similarities. The problems tend to be the same, the way things are handled and are dealt with is different.

What has exacerbated all the normal teenage problems is the constant connection to social media. When I was a teenager and did something embarrassing only me and whoever was there saw it, and maybe a few others heard about it. Now there could be video seen by millions. A picture can be shared with the whole school. You getting rejected by text by that hottie can be spread all over the school and beyond. The social stakes are higher because the spread of information is quicker and vaster.

The way younger people communicate has changed as well. Many are awkward at in person communication and very comfortable online. Their connection to tech in amazing but their gross motor skills and coordination has suffered as well. Their mental and physical fortitude is not as developed. Due to the brevity of memes and short communication style the attention span is shortened and many have difficulty focusing.

At the same time each generation sees the problems with the previous. Millennials and Gen Z see the harm of pharmaceuticals and processed food. They may be lucky enough to see the harm that has been done by the stretching of family bonds and strive to bring those closer again as well.

There is plenty of unique challenges to the younger generations, but the nature of the challenges will forever be human relationships and relationships with ourselves and the environment. Whatever the future will bring it will certainly be interesting and I have faith that the younger generations will strive for freedom, peace, and love, more so than any generation before.