Have you heard the term "snowflake generation" before? If you haven't seen it before, I'm sure you're picturing lovely winter settings, but it shows a quite different picture. It is a term used nowadays to label teenagers, which means weakness and a lack of resilience.
Generation Z or Gen Z is the newest generation following Generation Y, which is popularly known as the Millennial Generation. The dates are given for Generation Z range from 1997 to 2015, which means they are currently between 6 and 24 years old. Gen Z was comfortable with new technologies because they have grown up in an internet-connected learning environment from birth. At a very young age, they have learned how to use phones, laptops, PSP, and other high-technology gadgets. Unfortunately, this made them different from other generations. Given the fact that they could easily search for something on the internet, they’ve completely forgotten to learn patience; the trait which means so much in our everyday lives.
Social media has made a huge impact on youths nowadays. It allows them to create online identities, communicate with others, see the current trends and build social networks. It has been used for entertainment, marketing, and, most importantly, self-expression. One of the famous applications that have emerged nowadays is TikTok. It is a unique blend of all social media platforms that allows users to create and share 15 to 60-second looping videos. Like YouTube, it consists entirely of videos. It's also like Facebook and Twitter in that it uses a "feed" of short, digestible posts as its primary form of consumption. The default manner of encountering content, similar to Netflix, is via a recommendation algorithm rather than the creation of "friend" or "follower" networks. And, like Snapchat and Instagram, it can only be created on a smartphone, making it more appealing to younger users who are more comfortable with cellphones than PCs. Sometimes, it contains TikTok Challenges that seem disturbing. One of those is the "tooth filing" challenge that attempts to fix uneven smiles by using a nail file to sand their snack-slicers down to size. Despite knowing that it is dangerous, most teenagers continue to do this challenge just for fame. There’s this also toxic mindset of youths that sees being pregnant at a young age as a blessing and promotes teenage pregnancy. Imagine, how could they manage to have this kind of mentality? Yet, being exposed to social media has caused them to become aware and open-minded regarding important issues that are most stigmatized.
Today’s youth have been widely outclassed. They do not believe themselves to be too young to be spoiled, and they are not expected to be old enough to carry responsibility for themselves. Living in a modern world has created a communication gap between teenagers and their elders. Teens believe they are old enough to make personal and social decisions, while the latter refuses to hand over this responsibility to them, which leads to misunderstanding. Youths nowadays are lacking in resilience and are impatient. Maybe the COVID-19 pandemic could be the instrument to help them find the true meaning of patience. Since gathering in groups is prohibited, this could be the time they could realize that what we should do is to wait. The lockdown may teach them that everything has not always been in favor of them, and before achieving something, they must wait for the right time to come.
As time passes by, youths become more suicidal and more prone to mental health problems. Whenever they struggle, they feel like they are all alone. But, we can’t say that it is all their fault to feel like that. In some cases, when they are going through, no one stays beside them, not even their parents or a friend. And we all know that at this age, they are fragile, doing actions that will give them satisfaction without minding what will be their consequences.
A man is said to be learning throughout his life. It is not a good place for teens to live in negativity. Anxiety, depression, breakdowns, overthinking, even suicidal thoughts are just some of the struggles they are going through. They believe that everything that happens to them is out of control, but the powerful antidote is when they realize that this is all not true. Having the right mindset will help them to discover how to have a happy life to live. How amazing is it going to be when we see our youth slowly improving?
As what Dr. Jose P. Rizal said, "Kabataan ang Pag-asa ng Bayan." It means a lot to us since what we are shaping right now is the future generation. Youths of today may be similar to snowflakes, melting at the slightest thing. But soon enough, as we continue to guide and understand them, they will surely grow as sturdy as a tree.