Generation Gap

“What concerns do you have about the future of this generation of teenagers?” he asked me, while holding the phone up to my mouth with the Voice Memos app recording my every word.

Casey, my 15-year-old son, had an assignment for his sociology class in which he had to interview someone from the Baby Boomer generation about their thoughts and concerns about Gen Z and Alpha. For the record, I was born in 1982, which puts me right at the end of Gen X and at the beginning of the Millennials, so I am not in the age group for the assignment, but when your kid waits until last minute to do his assignment, we stretch the rules a little. Ironically enough, this has me a little worried about the time management skills of his generation, but I digress.

I thought for a bit, while Voice Memos recorded the silence. I know that each generation thinks the next one is doomed. Even Aristotle, in the 4th Century, B.C.E. said, “[young people] think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” Generation blaming and shaming are nothing new.

But truth be told, I do have concerns about their generation. Social media, mental health issues, school shootings – yes, there are things that this generation is dealing with that mine did not. But after thinking about it, and Casey impatiently holding the phone to my mouth, I began.

“No, I don’t worry about the kids in your generation. For example, when I was at your track meet last Tuesday, you were running the 1600 meter. You did a great job by the way! But I remember watching one young man in particular. He was heavier and quickly fell behind the pack, at one point being lapped by the leader. But he kept running. Long after the runners had passed the finish line, he rounded the final turn and hundreds of teenagers stopped what they were doing, and began to cheer him on. They ran up to the track and were clapping, while parents stood up in the bleachers and began cheering. When the runner crossed the finish line, almost every member of the track team, from dozens of different high schools, celebrated their peer with congratulations, kindness, and cheers.”

Will this one event save an entire generation? No, there are many things that concern me about this generation, but it really has nothing to do with the kids.

Maybe, instead of asking what concerns we have for the future generation, we could ask, what can we learn from this generation?

Holy One,

Help us to live with an open mind and to never stop learning.

Kelly has been fully immersed in Gen Z lingo and culture, hearing the words, “Rizz,” “Chat,” and “Bruh” on a daily basis. She believes that the adults could learn a thing or two about kindness from this generation.