howwebecamegenz-sect662

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How is Gen Z inside the classroom?

Do you know how older generations were when they were at school? How? Well, I will give you some help to answer that question before we begin on today’s topic. As we all might or not know by now, it is said that Boomers were taught to effectively work as a team, so they know how to handle conflict when completing task in groups. Also, they were taught to respect authority (teachers and principal) no matter what �� they were not allowed to question the authority’s decision. Secondly, we have Xoomers. How were you at school, Gen X? It is said that Xoomers were more independent and worked less in teams because “they thrived in competitive environments,” which might not allow them to work that well in groups. I think this generations still respected the authorities anyhow, but started questioning, “Why cannot we speak up when something is wrong?” In third place: Millennials, the WHY generation. Millennials are seen as the generations that starting questioning everything about the world, they want change since they were at school. How were they to authorities (teachers)? The answer is “respect after being respected.” I think at this time, teenagers started understanding that sometimes figures of authorities are wrong. Also, Millennials’ education went along with technology’s fast growth which may have eased their learning process. And last but not least: Gen Z. How are Gen Zers as students (most of them are currently in high school, college or university)?

In today’s post, we will get to know some of the characteristics that are shown by Generation Z at school.

-          Learning process outside the classroom: Today’s generation is now able to get information wherever they are any time they want which has facilitated learning not to be reduced to a classroom. In fact, most students around the world are taking classes outside a real classroom because of the health crisis we all are enduring. How is this possible? Thanks to technology. Thanks to computers and the internet we are able to continue our education. Finally, it is not only Gen Z that is taking advantage of technology, I think all generations are embracing technology to get more knowledge than ever.

-          Mobile: What am I referring to? Gen Z has demonstrated to be a more versatile and welcoming-to-change generation. This generation is fighting for a better world and I’m hoping it has something to do with what they are learning at school which would mean teachers are doing a great job at creating leaders.

-          Gen Z known as “the most globally connected generation”: Again, thanks to technology, teenagers and young adults of this generation have been allowed to get to know the reality of outside their city/country. This means, Gen Zers have been able to understand other cultures in ways different than just reading books, they are now able to do so by seeing, even if it is just virtually, people and their living all around the world – how? Social media.

-          Visual and hands-on task students: It is said that Gen Z better understand and catch information in “picture rather than with words and phrases”  And it is understandable as social media is based on images. Also, they are better at hands-on ltask which means to learn by doing - which it is, from my point of view, one of the most effective educational approachs.

To finally end this post which has given us a little hint on how iGen develops as students, we can sum up that people aged between 10 – 23 years are “learners who are social, mobile, global, digital and visual.”

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Here some important facts you may or may not know:

- 20% of 13 to 18-year-olds around the world experience a mental health condition.

- 25% of parents struggle to find mental health services for their child.

- 50% of mental health conditions begin by age 14.

*Source: The Children’s Mental Health Matters

On today’s topic, we will talk about Gen Z being more depressed than any other generation ever.

Why is it that we get depressed? Well, on one side, believe it or not, our mental health depends, in some ways, on our gens- yes, it may run in your family; however, it does not mean that if one or both your parents deal with depression, you will too – it actually will depend on the events you went/are going/will be experiencing throughout your life. On the other hand, one big part of the answer is also because of the challenging situations we have to face every single day – especially, those that occur when we are trying to discover our own path, just as most Gen Zers are, myself included. And what exactly are those challenges Gen Z is dealing with right now? I am guessing you already know the answer – yes, the pandemic has a lot to do with the high rates of depression Gen Z has shown to the world. Furthermore, let us not forget that there are other uneasy situations, mostly social, that can be causing or leading to children-teenager-young adult depression.  For example, those that a huge part of the world’s population has dealt with such as discrimination (racism, religious discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, etc.), sexual harassment/assault, bullying, among others.

This time, I will be only focusing on the stress and depression that have come along with COVID-19 and how it has affected Gen Z the most – how it has affected me and my mental health. First of all, it is important to mention that in 2020 the average stress level from Gen Zers was 6.1 out of 10 against the 5.6 from Millennials and the 5.2 from Xoomers. The reasons? One of them, we have been locked up for months, which I do understand it is for our best, however, that does not change the fact that our social life has been taken away. Gen Z was just getting out to the world to live what every teenager/young adult has to experience at least once in their lives and they just could not. Many of us have not had even the opportunity to meet their classmates in person. Also, if your program of study is more practical than theoretical such as mine, Early Child Education, then you do not know what is like to be in that field without the reality of a pandemic which is not cool. I have to wear a mask and face shield when I go to the daycare where I am doing my internship, how am I supposed to connect with children if they are not able to see my face expressions? Moreover, many Gen Zers, just as many other people, lost their jobs when the pandemic started as their workplace was more likely not to be an essential business, so let us add that to the list of our reasons to be more stressed. We did not know if we were to get our jobs back which, in my case, caused me anxiety. To sum up, Gen Z’s high rates of depression and stress may be the result of being on the way to adulthood in a moment where “the future looks uncertain.”

Finally, I just wanted to share one last thing I found looking for the reports of depression from 2020 and it is that the American Psychological association (APA) assures, “We are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.” So, please do not forget that your mental health matters, you matter.

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Looking for content to share this week, I found this quite fascinating TedTalk on Youtube by Justin Shaifer, a millennial whose passion is visiting schools to encourage children and teenagers to get interested in Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics. Basically, his speech provides parents, teachers and adults in general with different tips on how to approach today’s children and teenagers, who are mostly Gen Z, and that they actually listen to you. Now, I will try to explain a little bit further what he mentions on the TedTalk and make a comment based on it.

The first thing he says is that to engage with a Gen Z, you have to understand them, how will you be able to get their attention if you do not know what they are into? And I have to totally agree with this. I feel like some parents and teachers are trying to teach this generation the same way they were taught when they were at school, so they are failing to connect with the child because the world is completely different from what it was 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. Moreover, I have come to learn that every child is unique and we cannot expect all of them to learn the same way. So, it is important to get to know each child and what they are interested in so you can truly experience a genuine teaching moment with them. Justin Shaifer refers to Gen Zs as “tech savvy” which means they were born with the skill to dominate technology – why is it? – well, because they were basically born with a phone in their hands. So, he plans his educational approach based on what? TECHNOLOGY, of course. Why? Because today’s children and teenagers are all about it. For example, he mentions that he gives virtually quizzes to children which they find quite appealing as they love being on their phones and he also allows them to search information on the internet while they are in the classroom. So, that got me thinking – why if we all find a way to make this phone-in-the-classroom experience to be beneficial to the students’ learning?

Additionally, this TedTalk leave us with this last and simple tip to apply when dealing with Gen Z and I will quote Shaifer: “Approach them as a student […] Ask them how they would it.” So from now on, every time someone asks you “How can I get my Gen Z students/children to listen to me?” you know what to say. It is never too late to learn new stuff. Please, take this advice from a soon-to-be educator, if you are a teacher or a parent, or perhaps both, you have so much to learn from those little humans you have daily in front of you.

Finally, I would like to say why I found it so fascinating as I said before and it is because I believe that not only Gen Z but the upcoming generations are the future and change of the world. So, I completely look up to people who are always searching for new ways to connect with Gen Z and now also Gen Alpha in order to pass information, experiences, mistakes and whatsoever on to them and guide them through the right path so they can become great leaders. And one last thing to say, I hope you, Zoomer/Millennial/etc., become one big mentor for the younger generations.

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My parents? XOOMERS

We usually forget that Gen X even exist, but why is that? They are the missing part to complete the Gen Z puzzle, so please let us start taking them into account. As a lot of us may know, most of Gen Z was and is still being raised by Xoomer parents, which means that we will have to take a look at Gen X’s parenting style to better understand our generation. Are they considered helicopter parents? Why? Let us go see.

First of all, what does helicopter parenting even mean? According to the internet, it is “an extremely involved parenting style. Helicopter moms and dads attempt to exert positive control in many areas of a child’s life. This can make it difficult for the child to learn to do things on their own.” In other words, here parents tend to do things for their children and control the decisions of their children – most of the time, thinking it is the best for their kids which unfortunately it is not always the case. Some examples of helicopter parenting are controlling the children’s friendships or hobbies, choosing their university/programs, solving their problems for them without giving them the chance to try on their own first.

Is Gen X’s parenting style way more different than Boomers’? Apparently, it is. Basically, Boomers are considered as having a helicopter parenting type of style and now, we all know what it means. So, it is said that Boomers were overprotective with their children which from personal experience I must agree, my grandmother is still hugely overprotective with my 54-year-old dad. She calls to ask if he has had lunch or if he wants her to make something to eat which is nice but little weird to me because my xoomer mom does not do that for my oldest sister who is 30 and does not live under the same roof as her. From my point of view, that overprotection was also caused by the society at the time – Most of the mothers were not part of the workforce outside the house, they were housewives and their “main and only” role was to be at home serving the family which included making sure their children were more than safe. Also, these mothers did not have phones to communicate with their children, so I am guessing some of them worry more than “modern” moms nowadays. On the other hand, we have the Gen X parents who are more likely to let their Gen Z kid be more independent. Both my mom and my dad are 54 years old and they both are Xoomers, so from I have heard of their Boomers parents, mine are quite the opposite. First of all, I think Gen X parents are less strict than their parents, they let their child take the lead when it is appropriate which is amazing developmentally talking. Xoomers has been raising Zoomers who are able to face the reality of this new society on their own. Moreover, this technology era has been a great help to the parents nowadays – they are able to reach their teenager/young adult child with just a click which to some extend give them calmness when they are worried – something Boomers could not do in their times. Also, most Xoomers work outside the house which means their child was most likely sent to daycare/summer camp when her/his parents were not home, so this may have some effect on the child’s independence. Finally, one last characteristic to mention of the Gen X parents is that they allow their child, a Gen Z, to take their own decisions and solve their own problems which has positive and negative outcomes but at the end, it is for their own good. I mean, I would like my mom to solve all of my problems, however, I know she would not – she is always there to support every decision I take, though - because she is always saying I am capable of doing everything by myself which gives me confidence but also scares me.

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More impatient? More depressed? More anxious? More distracted? Yes, probably we are, but we are also a ton of positive things. Gen Z has demonstrated to be more environmentally aware, more prosocial, more demanding, more interactive, more realistic, more assertive and so much more. So, how did we end up performing all those traits? Where do they come from? Is it just us? Is it our parents? Is it our personal experiences? Is it the global events? I must say the last four questions are right, we become who we are thanks to our biological genes, meaning our family genetics and our inborn characteristics, as well as our environment, meaning circumstances that only happen to us and those who affect everyone. To sum up, we have to thanks our parents and our environment for becoming the Zoomers we are nowadays.

Impatient? Yes, we were born in the digital era, we have basically every information that we want with a simple click, so waiting is not for us. We are expecting for every situation to go the fastest with the best outcomes because that is what we are used to. Here, we have the environment we were born in as the responsible of this peculiar characteristic.

Unfocused? Well, yes. Our attention span is about 8 seconds. However, it is not just us to blame. Gen Z is a one of the more overstimulated generations, not to say the most overstimulated - smartphones, tablets, iPads, televisions, videogames, etc. We did not ask to be born among all of these electronic devices, but we were so we have to deal with them and start managing our screen time. I am not saying all of what they bring us is disadvantageous, because it is not like that. But it is us who decide whether they are more beneficial or they are more detrimental.

Prosocial and demanding? I totally agree. Along with the Millennials, and some members of older generations, we were and are part of the current leaders promoting social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Feminism, LGBTQ social movement, and environmental movements. Our parents raised and are still raising leaders – people who speak up for their ideals and for those who do not have a voice. The situations happening all over world are the ones making us going to the streets to ask for our rights, and the support of our family/friend and our previous experiences are the ones making us feel safe when we raise our voices.

Finally, for everyone to reflect on this matter, even if you are not a parent or planning to be one, I will share with you a relevant phrase I heard while watching the video. Just as the man says in the TedTalk and I quote, “Whatever you are or not, you are or not that because of your parents.” And this is so true, we define part of who we want be and who we are going to be in our childhood and most of the time we are not in charge of what we experience at that age, but our parents are. The parents are the primary caregivers of their child, they are the role model and who their child look up to, so it is up to them to prepare their child to be socially, emotionally, morally and cognitively ready to successfully face the world who is coming for him/her.

“Children are under constructions and it’s the responsibility of parents [older people] to make sure that we form and shape a world for children that can be beautiful.” - Nathaniel Turner