The reign of the millennials is drawing to a close, and another generation is rising to take its place. Generation Z, comprised of everyone born after the year 1994, is increasingly dictating technology and app markets as companies try to tailor their products to younger consumers.
Several weeks ago, a student art exhibit on the third floor of the SCU library highlighted the shortcomings and the triumphs of our generation, Gen Z. According the exhibit, this age group is characterized by short attention spans, poor interpersonal communication skills, apathy, and social callousness. The art hoped to both address these issues and to demonstrate that we are more than these labels that are placed on us.
Anna Lunoe, Robert Magsino
Right now, I want you to look around you, and in doing so, to see yourself. We care more about our social media presence than being polite to strangers. We’d rather sit in a cafe on our phones than simply breathe in the pure joy of the little things. We read about the horrible and dark things that happen in the world, but do we care? Perhaps in a general sort of way. It is not enough that human beings are suffering–to many of us, it only seems real if it is actually happening to us. Social callousness is real, and apathy is a rising problem.
Government Issued, Oscar Quiroz-Medrano
Yet, many of us still have passions and a certain zeal. Our generation is adept with technology, analytical, and open-mindedness. As a group, we have been shaped by the attacks of 9/11, the subsequent Patriot Acts, and the Great Recession of 2008, and as a result, these events have made us globally-minded and responsible. Yet, all of the negative characteristics enumerated at the beginning do still exist in us. In many ways, we are a contradiction.
We are still a young generation, and we are still getting started. We have our failings, but we are ready and willing to set the world on fire. Generation Z, take your places.