Is The Gen-Z Youth Culture More Mature Than Any Other Generation?

Modern youth culture moulds an era which is inundated with the pressures of social affairs effecting our future. As a generation we are weighed down by issues such as mental health, social media, sexual liberty and even climate change; arising topics of conversation that could also threaten the stability of generations to come.

Exposure that we come across online has had a huge effect on the way that younger generations (Gen-Z and under) live their lives and control their thinking. Pressures from social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have been proven to effect mental health, they also be problematic for learning and development, being the cause of distraction and loss of attention span. As a 20 year old student, I know the feeling… The modern objective to be productive has churned into the need to multi-task and drive ourselves into overload, leading to an imbalance between relaxation and the constant act of doing.

Mental health issues are also emerging in relation to addiction, from drugs to sex and porn, young people are now more vulnerable to the adult world than ever before. A statistic from a Youth and Children’s Work report explained that 50% of people who suffer from a sex/porn addiction develops the issue during their teenage years. Half of mental health issues are established before the age of 14, one in five 14 year old girls self-harm in the UK whilst one in three young people have a recognized mental health condition. 75% of these people receive no treatment for their conditions.

Being present online is not the only headline issue for our younger gen’. Youth violence rates are increasing, as more teens are becoming involved with gang crime, leaving more young people living in fear or trauma, dealing with situations that are dangerous for someone of such a young age. In the UK, 500 young people were made victims of knife crime last year, an epidemic which is beginning to spread across the country.

Modern youth culture is becoming more mature as years go by. Gen-Z are taking global matters into their own hands, spreading conversation about issues which were never welcomed by the media in previous decades. The works of younger people such as Greta Thunberg, fighting climate change alongside activist group Extinction Rebellion, are prime examples of why Gen-Z is the most active generation of today. Maybe we all need to take a leaf out of their book.

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