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The idea that the youth is running amiss, threatening the framework of society and ushering in its ultimate collapse has been pervasive for generations. From the punk subculture to rampant unemployment, prior generations have created moral panic around the actions of the youth. Gen Z has undergone similar problematization regarding violent video games, drill music, and social media usage.

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Existing in a world where life and its interactions are becoming increasingly virtual, the importance of bedrooms has never been greater, particularly for Generation Z. Goffman (1956) refers to the analogy of the front stage and the backstage, the front being the way that you behave and express yourself when you have an audience, and the back being the manner that you behave when you are “freed from public expectation and social norms”. Due to the prevalence of social media amongst Generation Z, and the multitude of online personas such as Youtubers, Twitch streamers, and TikTokers that create content in their bedrooms, the two stages seem to be nearly one and the same. Lincoln (2012) mentions identity markers, ie, the color of your walls, your choice of lighting, and the particular posters on your wall. These all commonly serve the purpose, not only of fulfilling your own individualistic stylistic and aesthetic decisions, but also function as a meticulously crafted backdrop for your desired social media endeavors. For gen Z, keeping up appearances has infiltrated the most personal of spaces.

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In 1903 G Stanely Hall defined adolescence as a specific period characterized by a “developmental phase brought on by social and biological forces.” Generation Z has been heavily critiqued by previous generations for possessing a myriad of adolescent qualities, such as lack of employment, idyllic political views, and general immaturity on nearly every level. Adolescence has a massively negative connotation, but this is merely a Western concept. Gen Z’s “adolescence” may have much more to do with the social state of the West, than with Gen Z itself.

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Gen Z and social media platforms have been inseparable. News from Twitter, fashion trends from TikTok, and Snapchat filters have run rampant throughout the zeitgeist of the generation. In Baudrillard’s Hyperreality (1994), he offers the unfiltered supposition that idealistic representations of one's life, and emphasized positive experiences could impact an individual’s sense of well being and self esteem.

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A theory that believes that a society’s technological development determines its culture and social norms. Gen Z is the first generation to truly grow up in the social media age, which has been the cause of a multitude of concerns for the generation. However, Buckingham (2008), critiqued the theory, and stated that similar concerns and debates took place at the conception of other technological innovations, such as the television, telephone, etc.

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Following the 1980s, youth unemployment has rapidly increased. Levels of youth unemployment in the advanced nations tends to be two to three times higher than adult unemployment (Furlong and Cartmel). Social Scientists Ashton and Mcguire (1983), were highly pessimistic of future trends, speculating that the increase of unemployment signaled the emergence of structural changes that would lead to the fall of demand for labor in western economies. Generation Z has experienced immense challenges when it comes to effectively transitioning into the labor market. According to a survey conducted by the Visual Capitalist, over 38% of Gen Z is unemployed.

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GENERATION JOBLESS: Youth unemployment crisis?

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Generation Z at large has been immensely disapproving of the ideological and political stances of the Baby Boomer generation, and quite discriminatory of the generation as a collective. The term, Ok Boomer emerged as a Gen Z’s dismissive eye roll’ to the critical rhetoric that accuses their generation of being ‘snowflakes,’ delusional, and unable to grow up (Gerhardt, 2019; Gonyea & Hudson, 2020). As Braungart & Braungart, 1986; Kagwanja, 2006) say, we define ‘intergenerational politics’ as the tendency of people from a particular cohort to form shared political consciousness and behaviors, and their corresponding tendency to clash with the political attitudes of other cohort groups.

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Mental Health issues are incredibly prominent throughout Generation Z. According to the American Psychological Association, just 45% of Gen Zers report that their mental health is very good or excellent. There are many factors that could potentially contribute to this significant decrease in well being. Excess social media usage, anxieties about the climate change, and financial insecurity are certainly all prime suspects.