OMG, Gen Z.
You know them, the latest generation of indifferent young humans with their entitlement mentality and their lazy streak and their social media addiction. They came of age with the Internet in the back pocket of their mom jeans and have used it to convulse entire industries at a whim, from weddings to dog food to mayonnaise. You know them, right?
I have been an adjunct professor for eight years at the Florida State University campus in Panama City, Florida. I’ve taught several hundred students at this point, from teensy communities near our campus like Wewahitchka, Apalachicola, and Bonifay, but also from the Philippines, Ukraine, Ecuador, and Romania, to name a few.
I’ve had enough up-close time with these creatures to note some commonalities. I have looked deep into their post-ironic eyes and seen a few truths that buck their reputation as sniveling toddlers in jeggings. They are actually kind of great and, whether they (or you) know it, have some stuff figured out. Let me introduce them to you.
Oh, and I was born in 1974, solidly Gen X.
First, some myth busting. The prevailing warrant against Gen Z (and their Millennial predecessors) is they are pathologically self-absorbed, a cohort of preening narcissists. You may even think they are narcissists. They are not.
If one emotion defines this group en masse, it is fear. They are desperately afraid. Afraid of screwing up or not screwing up enough, of taking the wrong job or not having one, of missing their chance at love or choosing a partner too soon, of living in the wrong place, of living in the right place and doing the wrong things, of having no place at all.
They are not overconfident. They are not even confident.
We Gen X-ers and our Boomer parents were so fortunate growing up. When we were in school, peer pressure and comparison anxiety were limited to the population of our gym class. It sucked, but it was an hour a day and then we could go play with our friends.
Our social stress could be compartmentalized and cordoned off from other, happier activities like riding bikes or building a fort. We were basically the kids from Stranger Things without the devil dogs and horrifying Groot-Gone-Wild shadow monster.
Kids these days live in the upside down.
For much of their living memory, Gen Z-ers have stared through a black looking glass into a world where nothing is real and everybody lies. The entire point is to falsify. They were taught by the glass to fake a sort of manic happiness, open-mouth laughs and duck lips and selfies in the bathroom mirror.
While this group’s core self images were developing, they were led to believe that anything short of Kardashian-level success was shameful failure. And they aren’t just comparing themselves to a few dozen classmates like we did. They have a planet of peers to fall short of, all of whom are also faking. No wonder they are neurotic.
The most important words you can say to these people are, “You are doing just fine.”
Okay, so maybe members of this generation aren’t as vain as we thought, but what do I like so much about them? Even if you buy my argument about their brittle egos, what positive traits do they bring to the societal table?
For one, kindness. Gen Z accepts, in fact values, differences in others with unprecedented ease and grace.
They have no concept of -ism or -ia. They literally do not understand the point of racism, sexism, homophobia. Even the religious kids. And I live in the South. I routinely see Gen Z women in hijab yucking it up with their openly gay classmates. African-American students hang with their Basic White Girl besties. Was that your reality growing up Gen X? Boomers?
Maybe that is the irony of sustained gazing into the black mirror. Gen Z was exposed to pluralism at an early age and inoculated against some of our tribalist tendencies. Probably the only fear they do not have is of the Other.
Gen Z has discovered that much of what the older generations fight about is related to minding each other’s business too much and mandating sameness. They have relieved themselves of that burden or, better yet, chosen not to pick it up in the first place.
You watch, many of our exhausted and flyblown -isms and -ias will die with these people. The secret is out; they know kindness is easier.
One -ism I am sure Gen Z will bury is sexism. They will close the gender gap in their lifetime. This generation of women has agency and is using it. They are educating themselves, postponing motherhood, and seeing what all the fuss is about in the wider world that men have enjoyed for so long. They like what they see.
That said, not all of them are waiting to start families. Quite a few of my former students have chosen to become mothers. Some have gotten married as young as 18. But they are choosing it as one of the increasing options at their disposal. And no matter what their decision, all their peers—male, female, or otherwise—are encouraging and happy for them. Isn’t that how freedom and community are supposed to work?
Also, please stop maligning their work ethic. Z-ers are not lazy, they are idealistic. And they are putting feet to their ideals. They want to work hard, but meaningfully. They resist the any-job-to-build-a-401k model we were taught.
To wit, I have a former student who works for a B Corporation that produces eco-friendly, reusable menstrual products. She just edited a book for new menstruators to make the text more gender neutral. I don’t know how much money she makes, but probably not a lot. She lives in Portland, Oregon and could make more at the Nike headquarters there. I’m guessing the shoe peddler is not even on her radar.
She is no anomaly. These young people will work themselves silly, but they will not do it for money alone.
These kids do not long for a bigger house than their parents, a grotesque Abrams-size SUV, or a vacation home they can’t afford and never visit. They aspire to live light and experience more, see new places instead of own new things.
Doesn’t that sound nice? They want to live with heart and be kind. Isn’t that lovely?
Or would you rather they be like us, worshipping the workaholic and lionizing accumulation?
Members of Gen Z are not who many think they are. They have answers.
And to my dear students: you are not off the hook. If you haven’t already, you will start families and buy houses and pay taxes and build college funds. The pressures of life will inevitably set in. When they do, it will be tempting to discard your ideals and forget your specialness. Please don’t. You are inheriting a marvelous world with some big challenges. We will need your powerful kindness and commitment to meaningful effort.
As you come into your own, you will also see the previous generations are not all bad, that we know some stuff too, and that we, like you, are just trying our best.
I love you. You are doing just fine. Now put the phone down and do your homework.
Professor Elliott
Qwirkery 
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