Gen Z doesn’t deserve all the hate it gets

Caraline Anderson, Opinions’ Editor

Everyone knows who millennials are. The media never stops talking about them.

They’re the ones that got hated on for the cinnamon challenge and for really liking avocado toast. According to multiple sources written by bitter baby boomers, they’ve killed numerous industries ranging from fabric softener to Buffalo Wild Wings to the 9-to-5 workday. But now, as millennials have been fully integrated into the workforce, it’s time for Gen Z to shine.

Now, it seems, that older generations are turning on us.

All of the students in this school are a part of Gen Z, the new kid on the block. We’ve grown up with Zach and Cody and seen the invention of the Smart Phone with our own eyes. But, unfortunately, older generations are already picking out everything wrong with us. We’re too progressive, we’re on our phones too much, we have a crappy attention span. But the very oldest of Generation Z is only 23. Isn’t all that what teenagers are supposed to do? The oldest of us have barely graduated college. None of us even have a fully developed frontal lobe, which is associated with judgement, personality, and impulse control.

And I mean sure, Fortnite dancing and the Tide Pod challenge aren’t particularly brilliant, but it’s pointless for older people to hate on younger generations for doing the same kind of things they did when they were 16. Parents were against their teens who were hippies in the 70s. Kids in the 60s were yelled at for playing music too loud.

We’re still learning as a collective and it’s unrealistic to expect us to have the same actions and reactions to things that 30 year-olds have. We have a right to being teenagers without being judged for every new fad that we choose to partake in.