The real generation gap, from baby boomers to Gen Z
Many young people believe that older generations simply don’t care about important things. (AFP/Amnesty/File Photo)
As you get older, two things are certain in life: first, people from generations before you will tell you that you’re still young and have a lot to learn. This will continue into your old age. Second, generations born after you will also, to varying degrees, accuse you of not understanding the world the way they do, of not knowing how hard it is for them, or how easy it apparently was for you.
This is not unique to some parts of the world or to a particular generation, but a global phenomenon.
People on every continent have told me that my generation has had it easy, that as a Westerner I am in a position of privilege, because of the color of my skin and my accent.
Many young people around the world believe that older generations simply don’t care about important things (it’s one of many rites of passage), and to some extent, they’re right. I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’m becoming more selective about the things I deem important.
My testing is primarily (though not exclusively) built around the question: “Can I do something about this?”
Life is short, anyone over 40 will tell you (and anyone over 60 will tell you you don’t get it), and that filter is key to getting through this life without too many worries.
Don’t worry, Millennials have been on a journey to this realization for at least the past decade, and while some may argue that Gen Zers are still unaware of what’s around the corner, none of us are.
What we do know is that mental health is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and we don’t know if that’s because it’s actually increasing or if people are just talking about it more.
Many young people around the world believe that older generations simply don’t care about important things.
Peter Harrison
In March, the British daily newspaper The Guardian wrote that “it has been much easier to repeat clichés like work-hating snowflakes and the sick-day generation than to take seriously the idea that there is a mental health crisis underway.” The article went on to say that it’s not just Gen Zers who have suffered these insults: in fact, they have “been directed at what we now call millennials, Gen X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation, as well as every generation going all the way back to Horace and Aristotle.”
But why is Gen Z suffering so much? The report goes on to suggest that one in three 18-24 year olds suffer from symptoms indicative of common mental health problems such as depression or anxiety, up from one in four in 2000.
The thing is, we Gen Xers and older generations didn’t do it the way younger generations think it was, it was just easier.
We spent our childhoods playing outside with our friends. We went exploring, played football or tag or just dug holes in the dirt. We watched TV shows together and then talked about them the next day on the playground. We sat down to eat meals together as a family. We were all together a lot more than we are now.
By the time millennials and Gen Z arrived, isolation had become even more prevalent. Video games, once a gathering of friends, had become an individual activity on tablets and smartphones. Watching TV was no longer a group activity, and binge-watching meant that no one was watching the same show at the same time.
Social media has become our primary source of information, with aimless scrolling becoming a habit that is said to be as addictive as smoking.
I was once reprimanded for mentioning something a younger colleague I was connected with on social media had posted. “You should never talk to someone about something they’ve posted online. It’s weird,” they said. I asked them what’s the point of sharing it if they’re not going to talk about it, but I don’t know the answer to that.
This isolation is a very real problem. People no longer communicate in the same way they used to. Many people I know prefer WhatsApp voice messages to actual phone calls.
In Japan, this act of social withdrawal among many young people even has a name: hikikomori. It is a state, or way of life, where people cut themselves off from the outside world, and it has been exacerbated by COVID-19, from which people are still suffering. In Japan, the problem is so severe that it has even led to a plummeting economy and birth rate.
It is well known that an increasingly sedentary lifestyle will kill people at a younger age unless more is done. Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine ran an article on the “loneliness problem” of Gen Z. The article noted that studies have consistently shown that higher social media use is associated with poorer mental health, adding that Gen Z is the most digitally connected generation ever.
But the report adds a warning: “They have grown up being bombarded with false realities on social media and may struggle to break away from the constant doom-and-gloom scrolling.”
“Many Gen Z and millennials point out that social media and the internet can be both a way to foster connections and a way to disconnect,” says Thriveworks counselor Alexandra Cromer, adding, “It’s easy to use technology to connect with others, but it’s just as easy to see your coworkers attending events you weren’t invited to, or doing or experiencing things you’ve never done before.”
Baby Boomers, my parents’ generation, are old enough to remember sneaking off to movie theaters to watch newsreels, and the images of Holocaust victims are as indelible to them as the photographs of dead Palestinian children we see every day today.
When I was little, the TV was broadcasting news about the Vietnam War. It wasn’t live, nor was it particularly recent, but the few images I saw were symbolic and disturbing. But I didn’t know what I was watching. I was only four years old, and my parents were in total control.
We shouldn’t ignore generations: Millennials and Gen Z will be the future world leaders and CEOs.
Peter Harrison
Then the Falklands War happened and we saw images of blown up ships and injured soldiers, again only watched on TV by our parents, the eternal censors.
The attack on the Twin Towers and the war that followed became more real, more familiar.
Today, people of all ages can watch the horrific images coming from Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine.
While older generations express their support and concerns through voting, some younger generations show their despair through apathy and not voting – in the UK, some have not even registered – their votes are not invalid, they just did not exist.
But we shouldn’t ignore the generations: Millennials and Gen Z will be the world’s future leaders and CEOs.
They have taken to the streets of Western cities to protest in large numbers for causes that do not directly affect them, whereas older generations only took part in demonstrations when it directly affected them, with rare exceptions such as the “No War” demonstrations in London in 2003 as Tony Blair was preparing to send British troops to Iraq.
Young people in their 20s are discussing Gaza, actively identifying and boycotting products they believe are contributing to the ongoing suffering. They’re talking about issues that many older people would respond with a simple, “If only I could do something about it.”
Generation Alpha, the kids of today, seem to be eloquent and inquisitive — at least the ones I’ve met — and maybe we should all learn from them and talk about it more.
Peter Harrison is a senior editor at Arab News in Dubai and has been covering the Middle East for more than 10 years. X: @PhotoPJHarrison
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the authors in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News.
