As the father of two Gen Z daughters, I read the headlines about Alex Mahon’s comments on the generation’s alleged lack of preparedness for the modern workplace with a heavy heart.
The Channel 4 chief executive told the Royal Television Society’s annual Cambridge convention that she believed Gen Z “haven’t got the skills to discuss” and “haven’t got the skills to disagree”. That’s news to me, as I’ve spent much of the weekend, discussing and disagreeing with my girls – now grown women – about this very subject.
Joking aside, “heavy heart” reflects my sharing their belief that they are derided and misunderstood by the mainstream media, which they increasingly reject. It is difficult to argue against the notion that Gen Z (born between the mid-90s and 2010) do face a rougher entry into the world of work and adult life than Gen X and Boomers.
The bleak disparity between paltry starting salaries and astonishingly high rental costs (forget mortgages), married to the looming climate disaster and diminished post-Brexit working and living options, result in a nihilism that can quickly manifest as resentment when they feel attacked. Which is often.
This “snowflake” generation is allegedly less resilient and quicker to take offence than previous generations. There has been much recent debate about modern parenting contributing to this.
Parents are accused of putting a greater focus on their children’s general happiness rather than traditional ideas: for example, forcing them to attend school.
Children missing school is a genuinely growing epidemic, post-pandemic, as parental attitudes shift. Meanwhile, parents argue with school disciplinary procedures or defend poor behaviour and lack of effort under the banners of “stress” or “tiredness”.
It is the nature of growing up that children become the centre of their own universe as they seek independence. School and university provide the secondary function of socialising teens and young adults, helping them to at least value people who are “other” and opinions that are different.
That’s why stories like Bristol University students banning the Army’s Officers’ Training Corps from its freshers’ fair are so disheartening. University is supposed to be about exactly the sort of debate and discussion whose absence Mahon laments. Gen Z argue that they get more than enough “crap” thrown at them. However, learning to deal with life’s vicissitudes is part of building resilience. This includes listening to people with opposing views.
The twin effects of pandemic isolation and social media echo chambers have resulted in a lessening of such exposure. Among Gen Z, its after-effects enable attitudes that older people believe are trenchant, binary positions on so many contemporary issues.
Life is emphatically not as black and white as our young believe it to be. Growing older means seeing more grey, literally and metaphorically. It is vital we educate our young to understand this.
