Generation Z is the first generation to have grown up with all different types of technology at our fingertips.
As this generation ends, I wonder if all the bitterness I feel towards the younger generation and their relationship with the world stems from fear or just old age.
At the ripe age of 16, I already feel like a middle-aged man. My experience growing up is so different from the older people’s in my life. We were the generation where we would go outside and amuse ourselves with just our imagination but that wasn’t our only option.
We had YouTube and cable TV to keep us entertained in the comfort of our homes, while generations before us did not have access to such luxuries. They were forced to be out and about with their friends and strangers all day every day, because what else could they do? What else could they want to do?
This idea of spending your time wisely wasn’t as big of a problem back then as it is now because it seems to have come so naturally to them. We have so many devices to hypnotize ourselves and the people around us that sometimes we don’t even notice the day we’ve just wasted. The day that no one will ever be able to relive.
Today is 2/19/25. That’s it. Today is the first and last 2/19/25. This day will end and then another one-of-a-kind day will be right behind it to take its place. This phenomenon known as Time is something we often take for granted. We think that this day doesn’t have to mean anything to me and my life if I don’t want it to, but is that true? Maybe. Days will always come and go, but how we spend them will stay with us forever, whether we like it or not.
As much as my dad would have me believe, kids from Gen Z are no different than the kids from Gen X or Baby Boomers. We have the same innate instincts that help us as animals survive and thrive in our environment. We have the same humour, meltdowns, wants, and needs, but different worlds with different priorities.
Although the world’s priorities have vastly improved, some have also worsened. Forty years ago, young children had to either be bored out of their minds or use them to conjure up some way to enjoy the day and the life they were now living. But nowadays all parents have to do is stick an iPad in some baby’s face and that solves everything.
It seems that children, now more than ever, are starting to take their childhoods for granted by copying what they see online and casting it upon themselves so they look older and more independent. An ever-occurring phenomenon of kids wanting to grow up faster has been so heavily impacted by what kids are now exposed to via cell phones and the internet. I never stopped dreaming of growing up, but now my dreams are different.
Instead of seeing myself being a famous rockstar and being satisfied with that, I now worry about how I am supposed to know how to accomplish my dreams. Will I even live my dreams and if I do will I be able to live them before it’s too late?
In the olden days, people would get married very young and have families because they knew that they would die very young, but now we have so much knowledge and resources to keep ourselves healthy so we can live long lives. So if we know how to live longer in the end, why do we still continue to rush in the beginning?
Children are required to perform well enough in grade school so they can graduate and go to college which will then provide them with enough knowledge and experience to pursue a job (preferably their dream job but who are we kidding) so they can then work for the rest of their lives and provide for themselves and their possible families.
But how am I supposed to know what I want to surrender my life to forever at the age of seventeen? I have multiple interests I could see myself professionally pursuing but I don’t know how to narrow those dreams down enough so I can sculpt a future where they become a reality. Those dreams are a part of who I am as a teenager, not as a grown adult. Shouldn’t we let ourselves have more time to figure out who we are before we try to plan for who we want to become?
I have so many dreams and what feels like so little time to explore and fall in love with them. I want to be able to delve into my passion for music and continue my love for photography and film while also maintaining a comfortable environment and self so I feel ready to “settle down” when the time comes.
Trying to make time to do what I want and love has become so difficult as an adolescent faced with tons of other preoccupations. School has become such an important aspect of growing up it feels like we’re sometimes missing out on the growing part.
You go to school for eight hours, then you are given the option to practice a hobby and skill if the school offers, then by the time to go home it’s already dinner and you have to hurry to spend whatever time you can with your friends or family before being drowned in homework. You spend hours on end doing all types of work that help determine your future. The future you can barely see with all the overflowing words on your screen you are typing and reading over and over again because they don’t make sense to your exhausted teenage brain but you need to do this assignment before class tomorrow. You crave sleep all day but when the appropriate time comes to sleep you’re too busy with the things that have always kept you up, whether that be doing homework or worrying about homework you haven’t done yet.
As teenagers, our brains are in an extremely important developmental stage. To help our brains develop properly so we can use them as adults we need a lot of sleep. Most teenager’s amounts of stress and anxiety are bafflingly unhealthy.
We feel an overflow of emotions on any given day because of the ways our bodies are changing and growing, but the emotions school stirs up poisons the pot. We have our safe spaces and ways of escape from the overwhelming amount of pressure life throws at us, but it certainly feels like we don’t have enough time to really appreciate the world around us.
Sometimes the only way to escape from the stress of school is to plainly ignore it. After school, on the weekends, pretend like it doesn’t exist so you can enjoy other major parts of living. You push your unasked responsibilities aside for your future self to worry about so you can spend just a little time with yourself and the people and things you enjoy.
Some people are lucky enough to be able to pursue their dreams and make the most of their life, and good for them. We are so incredibly lucky to have the opportunities and resources an education offers us so we can build an imperfect life in an imperfect world, but can we please just slow it down?
Slow down the process of learning everything so fast you forget it the next week, the idea that these next couple of decisions will determine the rest of your life, the time with your loved ones and all the beautiful things that surround you, our time on this planet that we are just running into the ground because of our greed and impatience. Why not look at the bigger picture? The picture that you can zoom as far in and as far out of just to gain a little perspective on what humans truly are in the grand scheme of the Universe. Who knows how long we as a species even have left in existence. All the other animals on earth seem to have everything figured out. We only get one life, is it not right to want to make the best of it? To bathe in the idea of the unknown and the endless possibilities ahead of you. To truly understand all the colors the world is always showing you, you just have to want to see. To take a deep breath and enjoy the art of breathing, feeling all parts of the world fuel and inspire you to explore and just be.
After all, what is the meaning of life if not to live?
