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Generation Z and Hope

 

            Whenever my friend, Dan Horan, writes something, I am eager to read it and learn from it.  He recently wrote a piece about Generation Z.  I know some about the different categorizations of the cohorts.  Among those groups, I am closest to the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964).  This generation was followed by the so-called Gen X (1965-1980) and then the Millennials (1981-1996).  This group has been succeeded by the Gen Z cohort (1997-2009).  Although Dan doesn’t not include the final group, many sociologists now talk about Gen Alpha (born since 2010).

            It is fun to read Dan’s words about how each group tends to be critical of the group that comes after them.  Gen X was written off by the Baby Boomers as a bunch of “disaffected slackers!”  Not to be outdone, Gen Z then said the Millennials “were ‘coddled’ and exhibited a ‘sense’ of entitlement.’”  Dan’s laugh here is at his own expense, since he is an old Millennial---which means he is “much younger” than I am!  But instead of writing off Gen Z, Dan chooses to profess admiration for them.  They give him hope.

            I am intrigued by his argument.  Like him, I spend a fair amount of time teaching this age group in my college classes.  But also like Dan, I also spend time and often lead groups made up of folks from the Baby Boomer generation, as well as Gen Xers.  Since Dan is a good bit younger than I am, I am interested in his experience because Gen Z folks see and interact with him differently than with me.  His perspective is probably going to be a bit different. 

            He is also a Catholic Franciscan brother and a priest.  Again, that make him quite different in significant ways.  I have seen him in his brown Franciscan robe and his collar indicating his priesthood.  I wear neither.  Dan represents a huge, global institution, the Roman Catholic Church.  My Quaker group is also global, but tiny compared to Dan’s faith community.

            I believe Dan is spot on in his only critique of Gen Z.  He has a “concern for how much time they spend on the internet in general and social media in particular.”  Dan cites statistics claiming about half of the Gen Z cohort spend virtually all their time on social media or the web.  The other half is surely not too far behind.  But there is hope and this is what Dan wants to give focus.    All of us older folks---born before 1996---need to listen. 

            Humorously, Dan begins by giving Gen Zers credit for having “highly calibrated BS detectors.”  That means they don’t want to put up with the crap of all of us older folks.  He adds, “Because they are constantly being pitched marketing spin, they have developed new discernment skills and an exceptionally healthy skepticism of authority figures and institutions.”  Dan thinks this makes them desire authenticity.  They don’t want to hear our excuses and whining.  The world has problems and they are stuck with them!  Their big issues: “income inequality and global climate change.”

            Horan believes they “hate hypocrisy.”  That is an interesting observation and I have no reason to think he is wrong.  Because Dan thinks it is true, he admires it about the generation.  There are things I admire, too.  I am less sure than Dan about Gen Z’x commitment to climate change.  Dan says, “Members of this generation are cleareyed about the real climate catastrophe facing the planet, refuse to pretend it is anything less than an existential crisis, and recognize that long after their parents and grandparents are deceased, they and their children will inherit whatever remains of this precarious world.”  I hope he is correct; I am less sure how cleareyed they are.

            One thing Dan has correct is the view Gen Z has on institutions, authority and, specifically, the church.  Listen to how he puts it.  “Members of this generation have disaffiliated in record numbers from all kinds of institutions including organized religion such as the Roman Catholic Church.”  I see this, too.  Neither Dan nor I think this trend is going to subside.  I would not count on them deciding in their thirty’s to return to the institutional church.  Dan explains why Gen Z folks leave the church.  They see too much “hypocrisy, impatience and willful ignorance…”

            Dan is hopeful, as I am.   How will the hope be lived out.  At this point, Dan is critical of us older people.  He observes “hypocrisy, impatience and willful ignorance….”  Dan is hopeful, but he says it is a qualified hope.  Here is how he puts it: “qualified hope because it can only translate into something real if us older folks step aside, relinquish our need for control, surrender our obsession with doing everything ‘our way’ and embrace the humility necessary to support and empower our younger siblings.”

            I appreciate my friend’s reflection and even his very general recommendation here.  To step aside does not means we older ones drop out of the game.  But it does mean to step aside and let the younger group take their rightful place at the table of decision-making.  We need to share power.  We need to learn how to listen.  This may take more humility than many of us have.  But we can change!  Surrendering our need to do things our way may be difficult.  But our way often is not working too well. 

            It is time to work with our younger generations.  And high time to work with the Spirit alongside Gen Z and the rest.  This is my hope.

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