Note: This piece is a staff editorial, which is an opinion article meant to reflect the opinions of the Drops of Ink staff. Because of this, the author’s name does not appear alongside the story, as the opinions shared in here are based on class discussions about the topic among the 10 DOI staff members. The staff is composed of students of all grades from a variety of backgrounds and experiences; therefore, the editorial speaks to the publication’s view on a subject and is not representative of each staff member’s exact view on the issue at hand.

Everyone knows about the different generations (such as Gen Z, Gen Alpha, Millennials, etc), and most people are familiar with the stereotypes associated with said generations. One of these stereotypes is the belief that Gen Z is lazy, screen-addicted entitled and so on. So what is Generation Z? And why does Gen Z have a reputation for being lazy?

Generation Z is generally defined as people born in the time frame between the years 1997 to 2012. They are the successors to Millennials and the predecessors to Generation Alpha. The difference in years between these generations is the origin of the root of disagreements between the different generations.

While Millennials and their preceding generations grew up with labor and hard work, Generation Z grew up with machinery and improved technology. In other words, times have inevitably changed, and innovation has paved the way for new technologies that preceding generations did not have access to. Furthermore, social norms have also developed as a result of how the times have changed.

There are many events throughout history that have shaped each of the generations, and for Gen Z, one of the most notable events was the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic struck, Gen Z was young and impressionable.

“Schooling-wise, a lot of stuff switched from paper to online,” a staff member said.

Although this transition was already in the process – especially with the digitization of the world through smartphones – the pandemic only served to dramatically speed up this change. Furthermore, due to being on lock down and stuck in their houses, Gen Z turned to social media as a way to stay connected and fight boredom. This led to the increased screen times and dependence on technology that we see today in Gen Z. It’s not just the amount of technology usage that has changed between the generations, however.

“A lot of older generations perceived that [Generation Z is] lazy, because when they were young, like, 23 or 24, they already knew who they’re gonna marry, buy a house with, and settle down,” one staff member said.

In current times, however, buying a house at around the age of 23 seems almost impossible, especially since houses are now much more expensive and because there is a shortage of housing on the market.

One of the factors that has impacted social norms and led to the difference in social norms between generations is the years of education students receive.

Gen Z attends college a lot more than preceding generations, which means Gen Z is actually starting adulthood a few years later than other generations.

“Other generations started adulthood at 15, so they’re calling us lazy just because we start life later and more prepared,” another staff member said.

Attending college only became normalized in the mid-20th century, and before that, ‘adulthood’ began at a much younger age, since people started working full-time at earlier ages. Furthermore, college has become more expensive in the past few years.

“People are starting off their adulthood with lots of debt, which can put them behind a lot financially,” a staff member said. “And that kind of financial instability is something that older generations didn’t deal with quite to the same extent.”

Let’s make it clear: financial instability has existed before Gen Z; however, there is a strong recent trend of beginning one’s adulthood in some sort of financial debt because of college, which has not always been the case as a result of college fees increasing yearly.

With attending college being normalized, many Gen Z people take a few years to complete their education, and once they’re done, they’re deep in debt, which only complicates their situation. So it isn’t that Gen Z is per se lazy, we’ve just been taking more time to reach ‘adulthood’ and join the workforce. Additionally, joining the workforce full-time isn’t a walk in the park.

“Now, if you want to get a job, you have to have experience to get the job, and you also have to have a degree to get the job,” a staff member said. “So you [need] four years at college to get a degree, and somehow get experience to do the job that you want. But where do you get the experience?”

In contrast, preceding generations often had hands-on jobs, and getting a job didn’t always require a certain degree or a certain level of education.

All generations are unique due to the circumstances that shaped each generation growing up. The misconception that Gen Z is ‘lazy’ was likely developed from little understanding of the situations that have developed Gen Z.