While we are all our own individuals, there’s one thing was have in common: we are all a part of Generation Z, popularly known as Gen Z.  The rash generation that has challenged the beliefs and ways of older generations. But how is this generation changing so many things? 

Gen Z consists of anyone born between 1997-2012, the oldest being around 24 and the youngest being around nine years of age. Specifically, it’s the teenagers who seem to be the most motivated for a change.

When asking adults about my generation, I often get answers that downgrade all of us and our beliefs. We spend too much time on our phones and we’re forming an opinion based on what other people think and tell us to believe. 

It’s hard to be in a generation that is continuing to grow up around technology. We have new ways to communicate and access information that older generations didn’t have. It must be troublesome for previous generations to accept that there are new ways to obtain an opinion. 

In my perspective, I don’t understand why my generation gets told we have to shape the future, and then we get called irresponsible and lazy when it comes to us changing things. It’s as if they’re against us changing anything they don’t believe in.

Technology has transformed our world in both positive and negative ways, and Gen Z has taken the internet’s hand. By doing this, it can’t be all bad. 

Tiktok was just people doing “trendy TikTok dances” for a long while and often the content adults judge us by. However, if you spend just ten minutes of your time on TikTok and pick the categories that interest you, you’ll be taken to an entirely different side of TikTok. 

Gen Z isn’t just about dancing and being immature. Sometimes it may seem that way but often it’s the complete opposite. Through social media, we can speak out on a variety of topics that concern a lot of people around the world. For instance, according to forbes.com, many Gen Zers were able to raise awareness on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation page on Facebook for the tribe and protesters against the plan of building of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Not only can we talk about it but we can do something about it, as well. According to researchers from Vanderbilt, Gen Z, compared to Gen X, work more on the basis of challenge and passion which can often be mistaken as slacking off and or not doing what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s being done with a different media, primarily electronic, which can be observed by others as lazy and phone-attached.

According to multiple studies, Gen Zs are more concerned about human rights and salaries and have acted upon the issues using social media. In most cases, it’s done wonders. For example, by speaking out about gender equality, there are more women and even those who don’t identify as either male or female, feeling more confident to do something about the social issues that they have to go through every day. Some of them even tell their stories over the internet to boost the courage of others. 

Another example is feminism. The more people speak out about it, the more others become aware of it. A part of feminism has to do with females being able to go out without having to cover up and or feel unsafe. Now, we see Gen Z encouraging “girls supporting girls” in which case, if a woman sees another getting harassed or looking uncomfortable by a man or really anyone, they pretend to be friends with them to get them out of the situation safely. 

The BLM movement was one of the biggest movements that Gen Z has witnessed and took part of so far. We are standing up against racism and letting those in that marginalized group speak for themselves. We are educating people over the internet and doing protests. It’s not because we’re being selfish and slacking off, it is because it matters. Most of us speak out against discrimination no matter what. 

As a whole, Gen Z craves peace and equality. We have educated ourselves in order to change the future. We raise awareness. We have become extremely aware of mental health and illnesses – especially during a pandemic. We try our best to change the world to make it better, even if it’s just a little bit. We care a lot. 

So next time you see a teenager on their phone, don’t assume they’re not being productive. They may be changing the world as you know it.