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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation 

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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation 

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Colleges are changing for Gen Z by giving out devices for their students as they adapt to the age of smartphones as they can't battle against it. Colleges also adapt by including technology for academic purposes as students learn to adapt to technology given to them by their college. Professors have to try different things as students of Gen Z don't like "static content" so they do models, brainstorm sessions, etc. Students have more of a voice as colleges prep events suited for their tastes. Colleges have social media to help current, and future students by posting things to come for incoming freshmen entering college.

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Credit... Henning Wagenbreth

The newest students are transforming the way schools serve and educate them, including sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter.

Credit... Henning Wagenbreth

They are, of course, super connected. But on their terms. Which is why college-bound iGens (Gen Zers, if you prefer) present a challenge to the grown-ups on campus eager to reach and teach them.

Consider orientation season. Katie Sermersheim, dean of students at Purdue University, has a mother lode of information and resources to share (including wellness initiatives and a new mindfulness room). But getting iGen's attention?

"It can be frustrating slash extra challenging to figure out how to get the word out, whatever that word is," Ms. Sermersheim said. "I do get discouraged."

A generation that rarely reads books or emails, breathes through social media, feels isolated and stressed but is crazy driven and wants to solve the world's problems (not just volunteer) is now on campus. Born from 1995 to 2012, its members are the most ethnically diverse generation in history, said Jean M. Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University.

They began arriving at colleges a few years ago, and now they are exerting their presence. They are driving shifts, subtle and not, in how colleges serve, guide and educate them, sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter.

They are forcing course makeovers, spurring increased investments in mental health - from more counselors and wellness messages to campaigns drawing students to nature (hug a tree, take a break to look at insects) - and pushing academics to be more hands-on and job-relevant.

They are a frugal but ambitious lot, less excited by climbing walls and en suite kitchens than by career development.

Most critically, they expect to be treated as individuals. Students raised amid the tailored analytics of online retailers or college recruiters presume that anything put in front of them is customized for them, said Thomas C. Golden of Capture Higher Ed, a Lexington, Ky., data firm. He sees group designations evolving into "segments of one."

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Ingrid Koester, 19, center, and other Princeton University students shooting a video, based on the Taylor Swift song "22," that welcomes the class of 2022. Orientation leaders and staff members from the office of the dean of undergraduate students were extras in the video. Credit... Mark Makela for The New York Times

Students want to navigate campus life, getting food or help, when it is convenient for them. And, yes, on their mobile devices or phones. "It's not really technology to them," said Cory Tressler, associate director of learning programs at Ohio State University, noting that the iPhone came out when most were in grade school.

It is why Ohio State this year, rather than battle device use, issued iPads to 11,000 incoming students. The school designated 42 fall courses "iPad required" (21 more will be added in the spring) and is building an app that in addition to maps and bus routes has a course planner, grades, schedules and a Get Involved feature displaying student organizations.

In the works is more customization, so when students open the app it knows which campus they are enrolled at, their major and which student groups they belong to.

Speaking to students on their terms just makes sense, said Nicole Kraft, a journalism professor at Ohio State who takes attendance via Twitter (she has separate hashtags for each of her three courses). She posts assignments on Slack, an app used in many workplaces. And she holds office hours at 10 p.m. via the video conference site Zoom, "because that is when they have questions."

Dr. Kraft does not use email for class, except to teach students how to write a "proper" one. "That is a skill they need to have," she said.

While these students are called "digital natives," they still must be taught how to use devices and apps for academic purposes, Dr. Kraft said. She's had students not know that they could use Microsoft Word on an iPad. "We make a lot of assumptions about what they know how to do."

Campuses also have been slow to recognize that this age group is not millennials, version 2.0.

"IGen has a different flavor," said Dr. Twenge of San Diego State University and author of "iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy - and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood - and What That Means for the Rest of Us."

It is tricky to define a large part of the population. But Dr. Twenge said big data sets revealed broad psychological patterns shared by those coming of age amid defining social, cultural and economic events.

The difference between growing up in the prosperous 1990s versus seeing family members lose jobs and homes during the 2008 recession alters one's perspective, she said. It is why iGens are so focused on debt and insist that they get skills and experiences that will lead to a career.

The prevalence of school shootings and domestic terrorism has also shaped them.

"This generation defies the stereotypes of young adults," in terms of risk-taking, Dr. Twenge said. They are "more receptive to messages around safety" and less eager to get driver's licenses, and they come to college "with much less experience with sex and alcohol."

They are also more cautious when it comes to academics, fear failure and have learning preferences distinct from millennials, said Corey Seemiller, professor at Wright State University and co-author of "Generation Z Goes to College," who queried 1,200 students on 50 campuses.

"They do not like to learn in groups," favor videos over static content and like to think about information, then be walked through it to be certain they have it right.

"They want a model" and then to practice, said Dr. Seemiller, who posts samples when assigning a paper. "I'll say, 'Let's look through them and see what works.'" Having grown up with public successes and failures online, she said, students are hungry to have a big impact, yet "worry they will not live up to that expectation."

And despite their digital obsession, Dr. Seemiller's research shows this generation favors visual, face-to-face communication over texting. They are not always good at live social interaction, but they crave it. "They want authenticity and transparency," she said. "They like the idea of human beings being behind things."

As a generation that "has been sold a lot of stuff," said Dr. Seemiller, iGens are shrewd consumers of the tone and quality of communication. That's pushing colleges to focus not only on what they say, but also how they say it.

Which is what orientation leaders and staffers in Princeton's office of the dean of undergraduate students - known on social media as ODUS - have tried to master in the way they welcome the class of 2022.

Mayra Mateo of Columbus, Ohio, an incoming freshman at Ohio State University, working on the iPad given to her by the university, which issued the devices to 11,000 incoming students. The college designated many fall courses "iPad required." Credit... Jessica Phelps for The New York Times

A brainstorming session in March generated what became a Princetified cover of Taylor Swift's"22," a video with orientation leaders and ODUS staff members as extras, a cappella groups singing the score and Nicolas Chae, a sophomore, directing.

Cody Babineaux, an incoming freshman from Lafayette, La., whose video of his acceptance to Princeton has 4.6 million Twitter views, appreciated it, especially the Harvard shirt sniffed and tossed out in the first 20 seconds. "It was hilarious," he said. "It didn't try too hard."

Getting student attention and keeping it matters to administrators trying to build excitement for campus events, but also in prodding students about housing contracts and honor codes. "We are an office that enforces university standards. We can't be firing off," said Thomas Dunne, deputy dean of undergraduate students. "But you have to be animated and human-sounding. Our voice is very personal."

ODUS has become an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter with a vibe that winks, pokes, weaves in memes and slang terms like BAE (before anyone else) and on fleek (flawlessly styled), and applies hashtags with wit (a free ice cream for dropping by the ODUS office with dance moves worthy of Dean Dunne? #GetServed, #GameOfCones).

Mr. Dunne, whose Facebook page began as a student prank without his knowledge more than a decade ago, leans on staff members who include 20-somethings. One, Ian Deas, who favors Snapchat, identifies student "influencers," following them on Facebook and Instagram.

In posts, he looks for "those trendy phrases that help us stay in the conversation." When ODUS staff members respond to student posts, it amplifies their reach. "When we are being interactive, our stuff pops up in other people's feeds" and drives curiosity about "who is behind the voice."

Being social on social media attracts students who might tune out official communication. Mr. Babineaux said he and his friends noted when college posts sounded "goofy" or "like your grandfather trying to say swag."

He also notices that his generation is criticized "because we are always on our phones," which gets interpreted as being disconnected. In fact, he said, "we just have more connection with everyone all the time."

It is also how students like Mr. Babineaux learn and get information.

"Social media has helped me get a lot more prepared for Princeton," he said, adding that he has scrolled through old posts of campus ("I have never seen snow") and watched videos, including of graduation. "I thought, 'That will be on my Instagram page in four years.'"

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The iGen Shift: Colleges Are Changing to Reach the Next Generation (Published 2018)

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The newest students are transforming the way schools serve and educate them, including sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter. Credit... Henning Wagenbreth They are, of course, super connected. But on their terms. Which is why college-bound iGens (Gen Zers, if you prefer) present a challenge to the grown-ups on campus eager to reach and teach them.

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NY Times asked readers of Generation Z to pick a name to name their generation, the results was surprising according to NY Times as some answer with "why we had bothered, they argued that this was an empty exercise. This shows that Generation Z want to be defined by their actions, not label. Others commented based on events that happened during their generation like "meme generation, "girl power", "Delta", etc. Some went with Meme Generation because according to Roshan Mueller who's 11 year old suggested because of how Gen Z goes through life fast and meme spread fast, both come and go. some chose girl power most likely because of how women have become more known to public but not as the stereotypes but for breaking those stereotypes set by previous generations. Another went with Delta because according Kelsy Hillesheim, a 22-year-old suggests to demote change and uncertainty. Generation Z is called many names by readers is most likely because of how much appears and disappears as treads come and go and that there to many things happening at the same time to define our generation to a specific name.

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Some people at a music festival who, our respondents suggested, belong to a generation you could call "memelords" or "dazers" or "the over anticipated cleanup crew." Credit... Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

When we asked readers last week to suggest new names for the generation after millennials, we received thousands of replies, both from those we had called on (22 and under) and those we hadn't (everyone else).

Hundreds wrote in only to ask why we had bothered. They argued that this was an empty exercise.

Kiernan Majerus-Collins, the 22-year-old chairman of the Democratic Party in Lewiston, Me., wrote: "Don't call us anything. The whole notion of cohesive generations is nonsense."

It was the second-most popular comment on our Facebook post. He has a point. Malcolm Harris, the author I interviewed for the original reader callout, described those jostling to coin a lasting name as hacks and salesmen. (He's 29, a year older than I am.)

Mr. Harris, an editor for The New Inquiry, is more amenable in his book, " Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials," which makes a case that these labels help explain the political, economic and social trends that shape our lives.

"I do believe that it is useful, or can be useful, clearly," he said. "It can also be less than useless."

We'll get to some of the least useless suggestions below, but first here are some of the broad trends revealed by the approximately 3,000 responses submitted on Facebook, Twitter, our website and directly to my email.

There was plenty of support for widely publicized names already coined for the generation born, roughly, between 1995 and 2015: Generation Z, Homeland Generation, Post-Millennials and iGeneration.

A significant minority had grown comfortable with "Generation Z," including Raquel Glassner, 22, of Olympia, Wash.

"I've never heard iGeneration before, but that is really horrendous," she said. "Our whole generation shouldn't be branded by Apple. Gen Z is the final generation of the 1900s, and a generational title using the last letter in the alphabet seems fitting."

(It should be noted that iGeneration or iGen, a name coined by the social psychologist Jean Twenge, had plenty of fans. Dr. Twenge herself chimed in on Twitter: "You know my answer.")

The youngest respondent I tracked down was Mari Sobota, 8, a third-grader in Madison, Wis., who wrote in to say that her generation would be known for "girl power!"

Mari, 8, could identify an obvious generational difference between her and her 12-year-old sister Cassandra, and their mother, Carousel Bayrd. "We both like cotton candy, and my mom hates that," she said.

The oldest respondent to give her age was 91-year-old Annette Benedict, of the Bronx. "I figure you're not an ageist," she wrote, a gambit that all but ensured her inclusion. Her suggested name was The Thumbies, for the digit used to operate smartphones. "I think that suits them," she said, chuckling, when I called her.

A significant number rejected the age ranges we selected, especially 22-year-olds who consider themselves millennials, like Zach Witkin, of Providence, R.I., who said he could clearly recall Sept. 11, 2001, an unforgettable day for many older respondents. He was 6 then.

"Maybe we could make a firm cut-off just beyond 1995?" he suggested.

Others were glad to escape a generational label so tarnished by, yes, the media.

The most popular Facebook comment came from Alexandra Della Santina, 22, an engineer at Boeing in Philadelphia.

"I wouldn't mind being called Generation Scapegoat," she wrote. "It would be kind of the tongue-in-cheek dry humor that I see in this generation. And when baby boomers and Generation X or Y or whatever decide to start using us as punching bags instead of millennials, it's gonna be much harder to whine about us if they're forced to call us The Scapegoats."

Roshan Mueller, 11, was one of many to suggest the Meme Generation. "I think it goes with how our generation goes through life," he explained in a phone interview, with his mom listening in. "We go through life fast. And just like that, memes spread fast."

We also heard from multiple people suggesting Memelords, Memennials and Generation Snap. Also, the Hopeful Generation, the Anxious Generation, Generation Fix-It and The Cleaner-Uppers. Some simply wrote "Doomed." The Last Generation and the Final Generation were also popular.

Andrea Habiba, 15, of Houston, suggested the Sisu Generation. "Sisu is a Finnish word that roughly translate to determination in the face of adversity, and my generation will be facing many adversity such as fixing the economy, global warming, the threat of terrorism and so on," she wrote.

Benton Molina, 21, of Athens, Ohio, suggested we call the new youngs Spimes. The term, coined by the science fiction author Bruce Sterling, refers to an object hooked into the internet of things: aware of its environment, constantly documenting itself, its existence mirrored in the cloud.

"Post-millenials share these characteristics," Mr. Molina observed. "They are central units in small, personal clusters of technological nodes (made of both people and machines) who leave a data trail throughout their entire lives."

But we had a favorite. Four separate people suggested Deltas or the Delta Generation. Kelsy Hillesheim, a 22-year-old New Yorker, provided the most thoughtful explanation.

"Delta is used to denote change and uncertainty in mathematics and the sciences, and my generation was shaped by change and uncertainty," she explained, mentioning terror attacks, wars, the Great Recession and the 2016 election. "I do not have much memory of a sustained time of stability, and I'm on the older end of what you're looking for, though I imagine this is also the case for younger deltas."

"We take nothing for granted," she continued. "We were kids when our parents lost their jobs in the recession. We also are a generation of demographic shift - we are more diverse than any in American history. We generally see it as something to embrace, and welcome changes that could make for a more inclusive and just America."

Delta also implies members of this generation will be agents of change, not just people reacting to it, she said. "We are not passive products of circumstance, but active members of society with agency to affect the course of history, and will to build each other up to make things better," she added. "We know all too well that adults aren't doing so today."

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We Asked Generation Z to Pick a Name. It Wasn't Generation Z.

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When we asked readers last week to suggest new names for the generation after millennials, we received thousands of replies, both from those we had called on (22 and under) and those we hadn't (everyone else). Hundreds wrote in only to ask why we had bothered. They argued that this was an empty exercise.

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Move Over, Millenials, Here Comes Generation Z

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Move Over, Millenials, Here Comes Generation Z

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Business are quickly adapting to fit the standards of Generation Z as the new generation appears replacing the older generation in term of treads like technology becoming more common among the people of Gen Z as according Emily Citarella a high school student from Atlanta said “When I think of Generation Z, technology is the first thing that comes to mind," meaning technology has improved so much to the point where it has become apart of our daily lives especially Generation Z as they are raised by the age of smartphones.Gen Z is considered the age of smartphones because of how they are able to get information quicker and easier because of how easy it is to access the latest news through social media. Because of the parents of Generation Z they have pushed towards a more multicultural America with pushing for rights and laws that seems impossible about 50 years ago. It's now harder to gets jobs as companies look at everything from your school records to social media, if a old tweet were to resurface it can destroy a career .

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Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z (Published 2015)

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Hear the word "millennial," and plenty of images spring to mind. There's Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, in his hoodie, earning his first billion by the age of 23. There's Miley Cyrus, preening for the cameras in a flesh-baring act that recalls a Snapchat sexting session.

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Generation Z: ‘We have more to do than drink and take drugs’

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Generation Z: ‘We have more to do than drink and take drugs’

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Teens interviewed here say they are less likely to drink. do drugs, etc because of being more distracted by social media. Some see Facebook as it's "full of older people." Teens tend to stay more indoors over going out as they are more aware and cautious of what's going on as a result of going online very often. Some said their generation won't be able to do some things because of the older generation. That might because it's not cool, or that they know that it's not safe or they don't want to risk things as much as the previous generation.

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hey drink less, take far fewer drugs, and have made teenage pregnancy a near anomaly. Generation Z - one of several terms used to describe post-millennial youth born after 1996 - prefer juice bars to pub crawls, rank quality family time ahead of sex and prioritise good grades before friendship, at least according to a report published by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service last week.

An onslaught of sneering headlines followed, characterising today's youth as boring, sensible and hopelessly screen-addicted.

So, are the kids all right?

"We have so much more to do than [just] drink and take drugs," says Demi Babalola, a 19-year-old philosophy and sociology student. "I'm not surprised those [statistics] show that's the case: it makes sense. We have a lot more to distract us now."

What's her biggest time stealer? "Social media." Babalola toggles between Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, although she rolls her eyes at the mention of Facebook, full as it is of "older people".

But it's not just the breadth of entertainment and culture that is so instantly available - and disposable - to Babalola and her peers. There is also a growing feeling that the preoccupations of her parents' generation seem, well, a bit lame.

"Going out takes a lot of effort: it's boring, repetitive and expensive," she says. "Obviously, I used to go out a lot in my first year [at university], but now we do more kickbacks."

To the uninitiated, a kickback is the sophisticated Gen Z sweet spot between the lairy house parties of yore - the ones typified by vomit on the parental carpet and a trashing of the family bathroom - and a pre-teen sleepover.

"We hang out, we listen to music, make our own food, and play games," she says. "We'll probably organise it a couple of days before."

Lewis Allely, 14, from Cornwall, agrees. "We're quite different [from your generation] because there's more stuff to do at each other's houses and we have more technology - like, we have video games."

His teacher, Mr Worthington, laughs. "I gave them a free lesson the other day where they could do what they wanted." He knew a mass bunk- off to the park or similar would be off the cards. "I came back after an hour and they were all sitting in a circle, looking down at their phones and chatting."

The cliche that many young people spend far too much time online, instead of indulging in a romanticised form of rebellion, may have some truth, but as futurologist Rhiannon McGregor points out, Gen Z-ers are more cautious and risk-averse than their parents, partly because that technology exists.

Demi Babalola, 19, says she and her friends enjoy kickbacks together. Photograph: Courtesy of Demi Babalola

"They're aware from an early age of how they're portrayed online and offline, so they curate themselves in a more conservative way," she says. (In other words, no one wants to be publicly shamed getting messy or being recklessly daft.)

"But they're also more socially aware and see themselves as part of a global community. It's easier to get and feel connected to someone in Africa or Asia and share concerns about climate change, for instance."

Clara Finnigan, 22, who grew up in Devon and is in her final year at the University of Arts London, points out that one size doesn't fit all. She still goes out, "often to gay clubs".

She believes her generation is unfairly judged and that it reports levels of stress and depression that are higher than ever because of the economic and political state of the world it has inherited.

"The whole anxiety of not having stability in your future is something that is definitely very present. I won't probably ever own my own house, unless I get really lucky."

She slumps in her seat at the pretentiously swanky bar we meet in. "I just want what previous generations have had: you work hard, you reap the rewards of that. Sometimes I feel a bit hopeless because [my degree and hard work] won't make a difference.

"I don't expect to have one full-time gig; my career won't be defined by one job. I know I'll have to do stuff I don't enjoy to be able to do passion projects that I do."

Amelia Colthart, a 22-year-old graduate from Leicester, and Myesha Owen Munro, a 17-year-old A-level student from north London, both agree.

"At my age, my parents and my grandparents owned their own home," says Colthart. "I don't go out clubbing - I know my limits. I go to friends' houses [for kickbacks], but I have to prioritise my career goals because it's a lot harder to achieve what I want."

Owen Munro adds: "My generation feels bitter about all the things we won't be able to do because of what the older generation chose."

Clara Finnigan, 22, believes Generation Z is unfairly judged.

The subjects of Brexit and of dropping out of university to pursue less mind-boggingly expensive apprenticeships come up a lot. As does a consistent refusal to accept that anyone should be defined by traditional markers of identity.

"We're more inclusive," says Babalola. "You can do what you want as long as you don't harm anyone and stay safe. It's about freedom. Previous generations always made distinct separations between being gay or straight.

"I try to avoid labels - being a black girl means society already has certain stereotypes that are expected, like I should be outspoken or 'sassy' or loud or like certain music." Another eyeroll. "It's restricting."

"People are more sexually experimental in my school, more than I thought," says Owen Munro. "The boys as much as the girls."

Do monogamous relationships hold any appeal? "Well, I don't know anyone who wants to get married as a life goal. Why would you spend the whole of your life with one person?"

While statistics show that smoking, drinking and clubbing may be in decline for today's young people, the health and wellness industry is booming with the same demographic - in part, because these young people have had so much information at their disposal.

"The risks and downsides of doing all of those things have been drummed into us at school from an early age," says Colthart. "Self-care is a much bigger deal for us."

Generation Z-ers will, after all, be living longer and more healthily, and looking better for it.

A report (pdf) from the Institute of Alcohol Studies suggests that changing demographics also play a part, reporting that "ethnic minority children ... are less likely to drink, [which] can directly explain a small proportion of the fall in underage drinking" but also that there is evidence these same minority students can also influence their peers. "Non-Muslim children in schools with a high Muslim population are less likely to drink," it states.

So what is the new going out? The Generation Z idea of fun that is inexplicable to older adults? Owen Munro, Allely and Babalola instantly refer me to Snapchat, where they communicate in a constant group feed with their friends. Broadcasting the minutiae of her day - a good oufit, a trip to Westfield - is as second nature as breathing to Babalola.

"It's kind of documenting your life, but you have an audience and you immediately know who's interacting. I enjoy it - it makes me feel important that 100 people are watching what I'm eating."

"It's easier than Instagram," agrees Owen Munro. "I hate putting up a picture and waiting to see if anyone likes it. It's scary."

And what are Babalola's plans for today? "My friends and I go out to London, or cycling. We might go to a cute cafe and take pictures."

The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)

Invented: free love.

Known for: benefiting from free university education, a prosperous jobs market and robust economic growth.

Big on: telling each other that if you remember the 1960s, you weren't really there.

Generation X (born 1965-1981)

Invented: irony, McJobs and disaffected slackerism.

Known for: their diet of MTV, rave culture and indie films.

Big on: reminiscing about 1988's second summer of love.

Millennials (born 1982-1995)

Invented: avocados and overly elaborate coffee orders.

Known for: making "hipster" a dirty word and sending selfies mainstream.

Big on: blaming Boomers for dismantling the concept of free university education, homeownership and jobs for life.

Generation Z (born 1996-2016)

Invented: the ability to hold a conversation and simultaneously scroll through their phones.

Known for: being globally connected and politically anxious.

Big on: experimenting with gender and sexual spectrums.

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Generation Z: 'We have more to do than drink and take drugs'

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hey drink less, take far fewer drugs, and have made teenage pregnancy a near anomaly. Generation Z - one of several terms used to describe post-millennial youth born after 1996 - prefer juice bars to pub crawls, rank quality family time ahead of sex and prioritise good grades before friendship, at least according to a report published by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service last week.

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Gen Z abandons old media, choose Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

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Gen Z abandons old media, choose Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

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Based on this article, Gen Z uses Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter as their main source of news with a combined 66% , while only 24% of Gen Z reads/ watches newspapers, and local news. This shows that Gen Z seems trust news more on social media over news outlets because most of them distrust them. Another reason is that social media is unfiltered when reporting information unlike many news outlets which they see as "fake news." Gen Z seems to trust more bias sources than filtered news sources on TV, newspapers, and sites.

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Gen Z, the newest generation of teens graduating into adulthood, isn't just snubbing print, but have abandoned old media altogether, choosing to get their news from Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, according to a global study of those 18-32.

The shift isn't just driven by handheld technology, like it was for their millennial brothers and sisters, but also by a nearly universal distrust of the media.

Consider: Only 4.6 percent trust the media, compared to 23 percent who trust drug makers.

And like many Americans, younger media consumers overwhelming choose political and social content on websites, blogs and streaming platforms that reinforce their view. Just 36 percent are "open to news that presents views different from their own."

The stunning results of the study by Anchor Free for Jack Myers Knowledge Exchange are the latest that suggest old media will die if it doesn't shift to the new platforms that have captured Generation Z through their smartphones.

In the study, published in the latest edition of Ripon, the magazine of the moderate Republican Ripon Society, 1,000 were asked to identify their two primary sources of news. Instagram led at 29 percent, followed by YouTube at 22 percent and Facebook at 15 percent.

Old media scored in the single digits while Gen Z and younger Millennials said their primary news sources are the social media pages and websites.

"When asked to identify their two primary sources of news, the majority of this cohort name Instagram (29 percent), You Tube (22 percent), and Facebook (15 percent) as the media where they are most likely to read/see the news. Fewer than a quarter of young people depend on newspaper or television news, with 8 percent reading national newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today, 10 percent watching broadcast and cable network news, and 6 percent exposed regularly to local television news or newspapers," said Jack Myers of his survey.

"By comparison, a stunning 82 percent of Gen Z and younger millennials include among their primary news sources Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, BuzzFeed, Instagram, Snapchat and their desktop newsfeed," he added.

Myers said that "young people inherently distrust news outlets that were lauded by older generations."

But in turning their nose up at old media, they could fall victim to fake news, especially if they rely heavily on news sites that use mostly photos to tell a story, like Instagram, he added.

"Without the traditional filters of trusted news organizations and journalists, this new generation of potential voters may be highly susceptible to fake and biased news and may find it difficult to discern fact from fiction. Compounding this reality, Instagram - the #1 source of news for young people - is dependent almost exclusively on visual images, and none of the major social media channels invest meaningfully in original news reporting, nor do they provide user-tools for deeper investigative analysis of their content.," he wrote in Ripon.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

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Gen Z abandons old media, choose Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

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Gen Z, the newest generation of teens graduating into adulthood, isn't just snubbing print, but have abandoned old media altogether, choosing to get their news from Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, according to a global study of those 18-32.

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According to Fox News, Gen Z are less proactive than previous generations as they seems to be less goal-oriented and less driven. Gen Z are less achievement-oriented,so business will need "real managers who spend most of their jobs actually managing employees." Business will likely see a shift to a more supportive work environment, with full-time roles within organizations and more managers who will likely spend most of their time managing, rather than contributing to individual works. This article show Gen Z as people who will need help to adapt to work life before being able to work without any supervision from the higher ranks and they believe Gen Z is less driven to achiev anything.

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I've had so many calls from frantic HR managers and executives about millennials, that it's become routine. "Over-entitled, lazy, tech-obsessed, lacking dedication, impatient" these are some of the typical complaints I get about the largest generation in U.S. history, who also happen to be "the most educated generation." With the impact millennials are having on the rising costs of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and attrition due to turnover, it's no wonder that businesses are starting to worry. Many of us have been warning of the shift in values that millennials bring to the workforce for over 10 years. If you're just starting to panic now, you're behind the times! What's more, millennials are about to become old-school. Yep, brace yourselves, because the next generation, Gen Z, is about to enter the workforce with a value system all their own. That means, you're going to have to adapt again -- and quickly. Let's explore the burgeoning data on Gen Z and get a heads up on how businesses can adjust to meet the needs of the newest members of our workforce, and thrive in a brand new business world.
Related: 5 Ways Millennials Are Like No Generation Before Them
Every generation has a unique impact on the workforce, both positive and negative. In order to get a handle on how the latest generation of workers will be different, Essentials LLC, in one of the largest studies of its kind, surveyed nearly 70,000 high school students. In the study, all students took an identical 200-item assessment that described key behaviors such as proactivity, endurance, self-control and follow-through. The study's Gen Z subjects were compared to Baby Boomers surveyed at the same age using a similar methodology. Findings show that there are some striking differences in proactivity and exhibition scores that will have an impact on your business culture.

Shift in proactivity.

Proactivity is associated with the drive for individual achievement, which predicts how much your workforce will focus on meeting goals and achieving promotions. For the past several generations, this score has been high, but according to the study, it's substantially lower for Gen Z, which means these individuals are less driven and not as goal-oriented. While it may seem odd, that the most educated generation in history would score low in the proactivity category, there are logical reasons for this. Our educational system has shifted from focus on individual achievement to emphasizing and rewarding teamwork and cooperation. In addition to this our internet culture makes instant sharing and connectivity the norm. In the study, the Gen Z students who do the best in school are those with a balance of achievement-oriented behaviors (measured by proactivity, order, self-control, follow-through) and socially-oriented behaviors (measured by networking, change and exhibition).

In order to address this shift,your company will need to recognize that for Gen Z workers, the balance between social and achievement-oriented traits is highly regarded. Adapting your culture to take this fact into consideration, and use it to your advantage, will go a long way toward your continued success. I'm already hearing from many companies that shared decision-making and group-oriented achievement have emerged as traits for millennials. Expect this trend to gain even more momentum as Gen Z hits the workforce. Plan for your strategies- from incentives to performance-reviews to promotions to decision-making methods to leadership training to accommodate this shift in values.
Related: How to Motivate Millennials, By Millennials
Shift in exhibition.

For Gen Z, the need for attention and to be seen, has grown substantially, compared to Baby Boomers surveyed at the same age. While this makes sense, given the selfie craze and the ability to always be virtually connected to friends and family, the impact on work culture will be significant. Imagine all of your employees needing the spotlight, constantly craving attention from their managers and peers. What's even more interesting about this behavioral scale is that according to the study, when the need for exhibition is high among students, it negatively affects their GPA, indicating that this group will place less emphasis on achievement.

What this means is that we'll likely have to return to the managerial methods of 20 years ago. The managers of today, since they're managing mostly high-performers, have been given significant individual contributor responsibilities on top of their management responsibilities. With the advent of Gen Z, who are demonstrably less achievement-oriented, we'll need real "managers" who spend most of their jobs actually managing employees.
Related: Why 'Gen Z' May Be More Entrepreneurial Than 'Gen Y'
The silver lining.

With the continual improvement in productivity over the past few decades, we have come to expect high output from nearly every employee, but is this necessarily a good thing? With individual achievement as the core competitive advantage within organizations, we do see negative fallout. Employees are stretched thin. Stress and stress-related illness is rampant. The shifting values from millennials and Gen Z, can actually be a balm to what is likely an unsustainable trajectory for our businesses. We will no longer be able to rely on individual achievement as the core factor for getting things done. Leaders will need to learn how to be more collaborative, share decision-making, give attention to their employees and coach them to become more productive. We will likely see a shift to a more supportive work environment, with full-time coaches within organizations and more managers who spend most of their time managing, rather than contributing individual work. Are you ready for Gen Z? How will you need to adapt?

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I've had so many calls from frantic HR managers and executives about millennials, that it's become routine. "Over-entitled, lazy, tech-obsessed, lacking dedication, impatient" these are some of the typical complaints I get about the largest generation in U.S. history, who also happen to be "the most educated generation."

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When comparing to the Washington Post that Gen Z will fix the political mess that the previous generation made, this article implies that Gen Z will not fix the political mess because according to a Harvard poll, 70% of people aged 18-29 were “not politically engaged or politically active.” This shows that Gen Z is not willing to put in the time to vote in each political election. Also during midterms 2014, only 15% of 18-20 year olds voted making them say Gen Z is Generation Zzzzz.Gen Zzzzz might mean Gen Z is too lazy to vote as we rather just sleep and watch the results unfold. This a further proven when in "the March For Our Lives" when they reported about 850,000 people attended the event, however based on aerial photos only about 202,796 really attended. According to reporter Laura Kelly, Gen Z displays patterns of "increased feelings of loneliness.” “less frequent and meaningful in-person interactions; spending less time with family and the feeling of having poor social skills or relationships.”, showing how possibly how technology has limited the ability to interaction with people up close.

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Forget the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. The latest generation to come under the media microscope is "Generation Z." Typical of mainstream coverage of Generation Z is a recent Washington Post opinion piece telling us, "Millennials disrupted the system. Gen Z is here to fix the mess."

I'm not so sure. Generation Z is the population cohort born from the mid-1990s to 2010,estimated to be larger than surviving Baby Boomers and comprising about a quarter of the population. Generation X is loosely defined as those born between 1965 and 1980. Millennials, next in line, are part of the 1981-1996 population tier. These designations, though, are flexible, overlapping, and sometimes contradictory.

On the basis of what information we have, however, Generation Z isn't likely to "fix" any political "mess." A recent Harvard poll of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 found that, while three quarters of them claimed to be registered to vote, a massive 70 percent said they were "not politically engaged or politically active." As for prospects of a Generation Z-led "Blue Wave" in this November's midterm elections, even billionaire liberal activist Tom Steyer, who has committed $31 million to turn out the youth vote, concedes that recent history isn't on his side. In the last midterms (2014), only 15 percent of eligible 18- to 20-year-olds bothered to vote. When it comes to politics, Generation Z may be Generation Zzzz.

While Democratic politicians and left-wing activists still hope to exploit recent school shootings to energize this apathetic voting bloc, their efforts to date haven't been successful. Despite the use of cadres of paid organizers and free transport, the much-heralded "March for Our Lives" in Washington, D.C., on March 24 failed to live up to its own expectations. Organizers set a goal of half a million and afterwards claimed a turnout of 850,000. CBS News reported, however, that a digital imaging analysis using aerial photos revealed that the real peak attendance was only about 202,796.

And consider the findings of Professor Dana R. Fisher of the University of Maryland's Sociology Department. She headed a research team that attended the rally and interviewed a statistical sampling of marchers. Her findings? Less than 10 percent of the crowd was under 18, while "the average age of the adults participating was higher than at any other event that I have studied since the Resistance began after Donald Trump's Inauguration." And since only 16 percent of marchers identified themselves as "moderates," many more of them may have been aging Bernie Sanders fans rather than newly engaged members of Gen Z.

Part of the reason could be that the Z cohort is not all that into organized group activities and has spent too much time glued to electronic devices and too little time interacting with fellow humans. A Cigna Health study released this past May found that Generation Z represented the loneliest cohort of Americans. Interestingly, Americans over 72-including members of the so-called "Greatest Generation"-were the least lonely, despite the infirmities of age and the toll of mortality. Washington Times reporter Laura Kelly explains that the Americans of Generation Z have displayed "key social behavior patterns...predictive of increased feelings of loneliness." She adds that these include "less frequent and meaningful in-person interactions; spending less time with family and the feeling of having poor social skills or relationships."

Sadly, this could help explain much of the causation behind recent school shootings, almost always carried out by Generation Z killers targeting Generation Z victims. The same social deficiencies that make Generation Z lonely may, at a more chronic level, be one of the driving factors behind Generation Z mass killings, many if not most of which have been perpetrated by people from broken homes, often identified as alienated and potentially dangerous long before they turned violent. All of which leads us to the question of how Generation Z got to what most would agree is a rather bad place.

What's different now? It certainly isn't large classroom size, a favorite excuse used by the education lobby. In the public school classes I attended throughout the 1950s, there were always more than 30 students per class, and yet school discipline was never a problem. Why? For one thing, there were few if any feral students. From kindergarten on up, students entered the classroom with a modicum of self-control and basic social skills acquired at the hands of parents and siblings in stable families living in civilized neighborhoods.

Religion still played a positive role in most families, and divorce was a relative rarity, as was illegitimacy. Drug use was virtually unknown, and the pop culture as purveyed by Hollywood, television, and the music industry avoided the obscene, the morbid, the treasonous, and the blasphemous. Another big difference was the fact that most of the money was still in adult hands. Teen and pre-teen spending was only beginning to pick up with postwar affluence. The grown-ups were still in charge.

Less and less so today. We may have reached the point anticipated in the old Noël Coward song that asked, "What's going to happen to the children when there aren't any more grownups?"

The answer, for better or worse, may be Generation Z.
Aram Bakshian Jr. is a former aide to presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. His writings on politics, history, gastronomy, and the arts have been widely published in the United States and abroad.

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Forget the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. The latest generation to come under the media microscope is "Generation Z." Typical of mainstream coverage of Generation Z is a recent Washington Post opinion piece telling us, "Millennials disrupted the system. Gen Z is here to fix the mess."

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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Generation Z is considered to be the loneliest generation, but it not because of social media. While many would blame it on social media, according to a survey they thought it was due to a lack of interacting with each other. This is shown in a survey by Sen. Mike Lee , the reports states that In 1974, a third of Americans spent time socially with their neighbors several times a week in 2018 only 19% do It was reported that workers are spending less time socializing with their co-workers, going from an average of 2.5 hours a week around the mid 1970s to now just under an hour in 2012 and on. Plus it was stated that families are also becoming smaller as the percentage of children raised by a single parent or no parent has doubled, from about 15.5% to 31%, all these factors show that social media isn't the only reason for why Gen Z is considered the loneliest generation according to USA Today. It's because of the lack of interacting with fellow peers face to face as a result of relying too much on phones to interact with people, contributing to making people feel lonely in general.

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CLOSE

The loneliness of Generation Z reflects not just rising social media use but a broader decline in interactions with neighbors, co-workers and church friends.

At a time when we're supposedly more connected than ever, there are an awful lot of lonely people.

"Nearly half of Americans report sometimes or always feeling alone or left out," according to a new survey from health company Cigna. One out of five Americans has no person they can talk to.

And the loneliest generation? That would be Generation Z, defined in this survey as those 18 to 22. Their average loneliness score is nearly 10 points higher than the least lonely generation - the Greatest Generation, those 72 and older.

While it's tempting to blame Gen Z's reliance on smartphones and social media, the data don't bear that out: The survey didn't find a significant difference in loneliness levels between those who used social media often or infrequently.

More: Aziz Ansari lesson: Women should feel free to hurt the guy's feelings

More: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is right that Millennials are key to #MeToo

Given the worrying consequences, the loneliness of Gen Z - and other generations - should be taken seriously. In fact, Cigna, citing a 2010 Brigham Young University study, says "loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity."

One initiative to encourage Gen Z should be #WalkUpNotOut, a movement that urged high school students to reach out to students perceived as socially isolated after the tragic high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Regardless of your position on gun control, it can only help to have students focus on being kind and welcoming to each other, particularly when the pervasiveness of social media has made it increasingly easy to bully both on and off campuses.

Plus, this encourages face-to-face interaction - and the Cigna survey found a huge difference in average loneliness scores between those who had daily meaningful in-person encounters and those who didn't. (Astonishingly, one of five Americans surveyed reported having such encounters less frequently than once a week.)

It's also important for Gen Z - and other Americans - to take "social capital" seriously. Thanks to the erosion of neighborhood communities, the fracturing of many families and the decline in church attendance, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for finding new friends or developing meaningful relationships. And that puts even more pressure on students. Imagine being unhappy at school and having no other community to turn to.

According to a 2017 report prepared for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, several factors show the decline in our interaction with each other:

► Monthly church attendance fell from the early 1970s to the present, with 50% to 57% attending in the past compared with 42% to 44% now.

► In 1974, a third of Americans spent time socially with their neighbors several times a week. Now, only 19% do.

► We're also spending less time schmoozing with our co-workers, going from an average of 2.5 hours a week in the mid 1970s to just under an hour in 2012.

► Families are also becoming smaller, and the percentage of children raised by a single parent or no parent has doubled, from 15% to 31%.

More: Liberals need to close the Millennials funding gap
POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media
Given these declining numbers, it makes sense that more Americans are falling through the cracks, losing ways to get to know other people.

And if Gen Z is using phones instead of in-person interactions, that could be contributing to these young adults' loneliness. In an Atlantic article last year, psychology professor Jean Twenge highlighted how teens were less interested in driving and getting out of the house than past generations.

Describing one unnamed 13-year-old, Twenge wrote: "She spent much of her summer keeping up with friends, but nearly all of it was over text or Snapchat. 'I've been on my phone more than I've been with actual people,' she said. 'My bed has, like, an imprint of my body.' "

That's not healthy - and if these are the habits Gen Z is developing in these crucial years, it doesn't bode well for this generation becoming less lonely in the future.

The American writer Flannery O'Connor, a Catholic, was fond of a prayer that included these lines, "Raphael, lead us toward those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us: Raphael, Angel of happy meeting, lead us by the hand toward those we are looking for."

You don't need to be religious to realize that we both need - and are needed by - others, and that our own lives grow in meaning through many of our interactions with others.

It's easy to toss out opinions on Facebook or on bumper stickers, but at the end of the day, one of the most powerful things many of us may do to change the world could be our "hello" to someone, our reaching out to that person who seems in danger of being on the fringe, making eye contact and sharing a smile with a homeless person even if we don't have change. Let's look up from our phones a little more often - and start acknowledging the people right in front of us.

Katrina Trinko, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is managing editor for The Daily Signal. Her views do not necessarily represent The Heritage Foundation, her employer. Follow her on Twitter: @KatrinaTrinko

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2I9a6wO

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation, and it's not just because of social media

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CLOSE The loneliness of Generation Z reflects not just rising social media use but a broader decline in interactions with neighbors, co-workers and church friends. At a time when we're supposedly more connected than ever, there are an awful lot of lonely people.

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Gen Z to Outnumber Millennials Within a Year

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Gen Z to Outnumber Millennials Within a Year

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Gen Z by 2019 will comprise of about 32% of global population beating Millennials by .5%. Gen Z seems to create their own solutions unlike Millennials who look for others or their solutions. Gen Z will be somewhat more happier then Milennials. Gen Z is also more optimistic about social and economic progress than Milennials most likely because they are more aware of what going on with social and economic issues due to technology especially social media.

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Generation Z gets their news from mostly Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter as the young people have become dependent on social media and are less exposed to news sources than any recent generation because of social media. With Gen Z getting most of their news from non- filtered sources, they are at risk of getting fake and bias news along with finding it harder to tell if a story is true or not. Gen Z distrusts news outlets as according to a recent survey of Gen Z teens, only 4.6 of teens trust the media. This source warns the reader that they should not think Gen Z is a predictable generation because of the current state of news reporting from many different sources.

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by JACK MYERS

It's been said that each generation learns from the past and that young people tend to be more progressive than their parents. It's also been said that the generation just entering their adult years - known as Gen Z - is the smartest and most well-informed in history, having grown up online with unlimited access to news and opinions.

The reality, however, is that ubiquitous access to news and information may be having the opposite effect. According to a new study of 1,000 young people aged 18 to 32 conducted by Anchor Free for Jack Myers Knowledge Exchange, young people have become overly dependent on social and user-generated media and may, in reality, be less exposed to news sources than any recent generation.

When asked to identify their two primary sources of news, the majority of this cohort name Instagram (29%), You Tube (22%), and Facebook (15%) as the media where they are most likely to read/see the news. Fewer than a quarter of young people depend on newspaper or television news, with 8% reading national newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today, 10% watching broadcast and cable network news, and 6% exposed regularly to local television news or newspapers. Radio talk shows influence only 4.4% of young people, a number only slightly larger than Breitbart News (3.9%), and half the number that depend on late night TV for their news and information about the world. By comparison, a stunning 82% of Gen Z and younger Millennials include among their primary news sources Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, BuzzFeed, Instagram, Snapchat and their desktop newsfeed.

When asked to identify their two primary sources of news, the majority of this cohort name Instagram (29%), You Tube (22%), and Facebook (15%).

Without the traditional filters of trusted news organizations and journalists, this new generation of potential voters may be highly susceptible to fake and biased news and may find it difficult to discern fact from fiction. Compounding this reality, Instagram - the #1 source of news for young people - is dependent almost exclusively on visual images, and none of the major social media channels invest meaningfully in original news reporting, nor do they provide user-tools for deeper investigative analysis of their content.

Accustomed to having real-time access to big stories via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, young people inherently distrust news outlets that were lauded by older generations. This is evidenced by a recent Future of Work Research Consortium survey of Gen Z teens from all around the world in which they confessed to being super skeptical of mass media. Only 4.6% of respondents admitted to trusting the media completely, compared to over 11% who completely trusted banks and 23% who trusted the pharmaceutical industry. These three categories were actually the least trusted sectors in the survey, and yet pharma and banks beat out the media by a mile. The result is a generation that prefers news that focuses on political and social content similar to their own, with only 36% open to news that presents views different from their own.

Historically, youth is a bastion where liberalism thrives, but this first Internet generation appears to be reversing this trend. Studies indicate that today's teens and young adults are more conservative than their Millennial predecessors. According to the Knowledge Exchange study, the political polarization apparent in society also extends to the younger generation, with 28% self-reporting as liberal and 26% identifying as alt-right. Sixteen percent say they're progressive, compared to 12% who are politically conservative. Only 17% are centrists. With limited access to news sources, a propensity to seek news that is consistent with their pre-disposed beliefs, and little trust in institutions, Gen Z and young Millennials will be difficult to reach through traditional media and even more difficult to influence. While it's clear that social media campaigns will be a required component of any political campaign targeting young voters, the challenge will be how to effectively engage and involve a cohort that is disengaged from the political system.

There are also no clear issues that are coalescing Gen Z into a cohesive voting bloc. When asked to identify the issues most important to them right now, no major issue was identified by more than 10% of respondents. While they are more socially aware and gender neutral, more multi-cultural and global, their issues are unusually diverse.

Finally, a warning for those politicians and their aides who embrace politics as usual: Gen Z has the strongest "BS" filter of any generation. In other words, they can see right through the spin. At the same time, they also are the least likely to actively seek out news and information on policies, positions, and the priorities of political candidates. Their worldview is informed by their online friends and social networks.

A warning for those politicians and their aides who embrace politics as usual: Gen Z has the strongest "BS" filter of any generation. In other words, they can see right through the spin.

The compelling message for politicians and marketers who seek to influence this generation is that communications must be personal, highly targeted and should reinforce pre-conceived ideas. Generic messages targeted to generic audiences, and assumptions that Gen Z is a predictable generation, will be misguided.
Jack Myers is the founder of MediaVillage and chairman of Jack Myers Knowledge Exchange. He is also the author of Hooked Up: A New Generation's Surprising Take on Sex, Violence and Saving the World.

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by JACK MYERS It's been said that each generation learns from the past and that young people tend to be more progressive than their parents. It's also been said that the generation just entering their adult years - known as Gen Z - is the smartest and most well-informed in history, having grown up online with unlimited access to news and opinions.

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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According to a Barna study, at least 34% of Gen Z is either atheist, agnostic as teens aged 13-18 are twice as likely adults to say they are atheist and three-fifth of 13-18 teens to say they are Christian to a degree. Many students are outgrowing and drifting away from "their faith." As culture has changed resulting in teens being confused mortally and spiritually as they believe that just going to church will not work anymore as the attendance model does not work anymore and training is needed.

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Gen Z-the generation following the millennials-is the least Christian generation to date, according to a new Barna study - 34 percent of Gen Z's religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none. In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist. And just three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say they are some kind of Christian (59 percent).
Creating Disney World-like Environments in our Churches is not Preparing Gen Z
As Christian parents, pastors, educators, and leaders, we want what's best for our kids. We want to see them grow up and follow Jesus for a lifetime. Yet, we all know young people who have become disillusioned or drifted away from the faith. It doesn't have to be this way: no student should "outgrow" their faith.

As my friend David Kinnaman, the president of the Barna Group, put it while we were working on this Gen Z study together, "Is it possible that many churches are preparing young Christians to face a world that no longer exists?" Based on my experience working with students, the answer to this question is yes.

Many Christian teens are simply unprepared for the world that is waiting for them. With the best of intentions, we bubble wrap our kids and create Disney World-like environments for them in our churches, and then wonder why they have no resilience in faith or life. Students are entertained but not prepared. They've had a lot of fun but are not ready to lead. When the pressure to conform is turned up, Christian teenagers tend to wilt if they do not have the confidence that only comes from knowing why they believe what they believe. As one teenager told me, "following Jesus today is hard because sometimes you feel like the only one."
Culture is Changing Fast and Teenagers are Confused
Gen Z has been discipled by their smart phones, taught sex ed by Google, and conditioned to assume that just because they believe something makes it true.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Christianity is not a fairytale for grown-ups invented to make ourselves feel better. Followers of Jesus have nothing to fear from tough questions, honest doubts, and challenging conversations. Gen Z needs to know that Christians care about truth.

Our culture is changing fast and teenagers are confused-morally and spiritually. At Impact 360 Institute, we've been studying Gen Z alongside the Barna Group for the past year and a half and the research and focus groups confirm this trend. For example, only 34 percent of Gen Z agree that lying is morally wrong; 24 percent say what is morally right and wrong changes over time based on society, and 58 percent of this least-Christian generation agree that "Many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no 'one true religion.'"
Let's Stop Pretending
So why is the fact that Gen Z is less Christian than ever good news again? Because we need to stop pretending and start living in reality.

We need to stop pretending that if we entertain teenagers then they will stick around after they graduate.

We need to stop pretending that if we protect them from everything they won't question, doubt, or walk away.

And we need to stop pretending that a few minutes of a moralistic, watered down Bible lesson on a Sunday morning will prepare them to stand firm in their faith.

In short, teenagers need a grown-up worldview, not coloring book Jesus.

We can do better.

By the time teenagers should be owning their faith, we've already lost their attention and the culture has captured their imagination.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Christian faith is not blind. Christianity is not a fairytale for grown-ups invented to make ourselves feel better. Followers of Jesus have nothing to fear from tough questions, honest doubts, and challenging conversations. Gen Z needs to know that Christians care about truth.
Attendance Is Not Enough
We need to reject the idea that if teenagers just attend church enough they will build a strong faith. The attendance model is not working-training is necessary.

As one of our students shared with me this past summer, "I know why I am a Christian now...I know it's true. I am able to defend my faith and live my life out for him [Jesus] in ways I wasn't before." Training makes all the difference.

Whether we are in the majority or being marginalized, our charge as followers of Jesus is to be faithful to pass on our faith to the next generation.

As our post-Christian culture increasingly marginalizes Christianity, it is critical for those of us who care about Gen Z not to take a business-as-usual approach to their formation. If we do nothing they will be shaped away from life with God. We have the opportunity to reimagine what passing on our faith to the next generation looks like in this unique cultural moment. But first, we must stop pretending.

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Why Generation Z is less Christian than ever -- and why that's good news

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Gen Z-the generation following the millennials-is the least Christian generation to date, according to a new Barna study - 34 percent of Gen Z's religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none. In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist.

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Americans are lonelier than ever — but 'Gen Z' may be the loneliest

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Americans are lonelier than ever — but 'Gen Z' may be the loneliest

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Using the UCLA Loneliness Scale according to a study by Cigna, Americans are lonelier than ever, a almost about 50 percent of those surveyed feeling left out or/and lonely. The scale show 43% are lonely while only 27% were not lonely. Gen Z scored a rating of 48.3 while Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers all scored with scores under 45.5, with the Greatest Generation scored 38.6. This shows how each generation more people of said generation seems to be more lonely or left out. Research has shown that being lonely affects your health, being lonely was compared to smoking 15 cigarettes as according to Science they have the same effects. They believe that as a result of interacting with people less in person and more online will likely result in being more lonely. Cigna state that parents can help reduce the risk of loneliness by helping with teens sleeping habits, balance family time and friend time, exercise, and encourage teens to hang out with their friends.

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Who here likes to feel lonely? Likely no one. Yet after some 20,000 people participated in a new nationwide survey published by Cigna, a global health service company, Americans are lonelier than ever, with almost 50 percent of those surveyed feeling left out or lonely.

Using the UCLA Loneliness Scale to compile scores, those who scored above a 43 were officially lonely, on a scale of 20 to 80. An astonishing 43 percent (that's 2 in in 5) Americans sometimes or always feel that their relationships are not meaningful, and that they are isolated from others. And 27 percent of Americans (that's one in four) rarely or never feel as though there are people who really understand them.

"What this comes down is that we, as a society, are experiencing a lack of connection," says Douglas Nemecek, M.D., chief medical officer for Behavioral Health at Cigna.

Most alarming: Loneliness scores rose among the generations, with the youngest generation, Gen Z or the iGen, born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s, scoring a 48.3 overall, as opposed to Millennials, who scored a 45.3., Gen X, who scored an also dismal 45.1 and Baby Boomers, who scored a 42.4. Those of grandparenting or great-grandparenting age, the Greatest Generation, were the least lonely, with a score of 38.6.

Sadly, it seems the younger you are, the lonelier you feel. "While we know that this is a group that's coming of age and making life transitions, these findings give us a clear and surprising picture of how this generation perceives themselves," says Nemecek. "It's important that the communities these young people are a part of take note and explore solutions. It's critical that they're have spaces where young people can connect face-to-face to form meaningful relationships."

The health risks of loneliness

Science has long shown a direct correlation between loneliness and poor health, and the survey illustrates this pretty well. Half of respondents who rarely have in-person interactions are in fair/poor overall health, while just 12 percent of those who have daily in-person interactions are in fair/poor overall health. Half of those who rarely have in-person interactions also say they're in fair/poor physical health (52 percent vs. 23 percent of those who are socially active) and mental health (51 percent vs. 12 percent). What's more, people who rarely have in-person interactions are also less likely to lead healthfully balanced lives, getting less sleep and spending less time with family, than those who are socially active.

"Research has found that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity," says Nemecek. Indeed, loneliness and social isolation has been linked to a higher risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. A 2015 study even links loneliness and social isolation with early mortality.

Research has found that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity.

Young loneliness isn't just a stateside phenomenon: Early this year, the UK-based Office of National Statistics found the proportion of children aged 10 to 15 years reporting high or very high happiness with friends fell significantly from 85.8 percent in 2015 to 80.5 percent in 2017. In response, the government announced an initiative dedicated to helping young people cope.

Is social media the culprit?

It's always tough to be a teen and today's plugged-in teens have a whole new set of issues that can stem from social media overuse. A very recent study, published by Clinical Psychological Science, revealed that adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 who spent more time on social media and smartphones were also more likely to report mental health issues, as opposed to teens who spent more time hanging out with friends, exercising, doing homework, reading print media and attending religious services.

"iGen spends less time with their friends face-to-face and more time online and on social media," confirms Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of " iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy - and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood." "As we know from decades of research, people who interact with others face-to-face are less likely to be lonely. Recent research suggests that those who spend more time on social media, in contrast, are more likely to be lonely."

Though this makes complete sense - studies do show avid Facebook users are prone to depression and low self-esteem - the Cigna survey states that social media isn't entirely to blame. Very heavy users of social media have a loneliness score of 43.5, which isn't that far off from the score of lonely people who never use social media (41.7). So social media itself may not be to blame.

What parents can do

Twenge says parents can help their teens along by shifting their thinking a little. "Teens hanging out with their friends are not wasting their time," she says. "Encourage them to get together with their friends face-to-face - and to put away their phones while doing it. Also, if you're struggling to limit your teen's phone time, parental control apps (such as Circle, Kidslox or OurPact) can set limits on use," she says.

Parents can also help their teens by focusing on these healthy behaviors:

Sleep. Balanced sleepers (not too much, not too little) have lower loneliness scores, falling four points behind those who sleep less than desired and 7.3 points behind those who sleep more than desired.

Balancing family with friend time. Those who reported spending too much time with family were also more likely than those who don't to say that they feel as though they are part of a group of friends, and they can find companionship when they need it.

Exercise. People who say they get just the right amount of exercise are considerably less likely to be lonely.

Of all the things parents can encourage to help teens avoid loneliness, hanging out with friends seems to be the most important. "When people have regular, meaningful in-person interactions, they're both less likely to be lonely and more likely to say they're in better health," says Nemecek. "If everyone can take the simple, but important step of reaching out to someone else, that would make this entire study worthwhile."

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Why is 'Gen Z' the loneliest generation?

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Who here likes to feel lonely? Likely no one. Yet after some 20,000 people participated in a new nationwide survey published by Cigna, a global health service company, Americans are lonelier than ever, with almost 50 percent of those surveyed feeling left out or lonely.

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Move Over Millennials, It’s Gen Z’s Turn to Kill Industries

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Move Over Millennials, It’s Gen Z’s Turn to Kill Industries

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Gen Z makes up one-fifth of the U.S. population as they are the most racially and ethnically diverse group in our nation's history. About 70% of Gen Z teens influence their family's spending as according to this article we are "less optimistic economic opportunity and student debt" Gen Z is not see the world through "rose-colored glasses" meaning our generation plays it safe by being less willing to take risks like drinking. As Gen Z prefers to shop online as of a result of technology then in person so this results in malls and printed magazines to be shutdown or decline in sales. Gen Z seems to use micro transitions like credit card over cash and businesses want to move away from using cash.