It seems as if some Gen X-ers and other Generations have been way too hard on our Gen Z kids. At least, this seems to be the case from the perspective of Tracy Moore of The Washington Post.

Let’s get right into this, shall we?

I’ve heard a lot of hand-wringing lately about Generation Z. As the first generation entirely composed of digital natives, Gen Z, I am told, is destined for myopia due to excessive screen time and inadequate time outdoors. They’re mired in a mental health crisis. Climate change activists have so effectively beat the drum of doom that many Gen Zers don’t want to become parents. They also aren’t angling for a summer job or a driver’s license, sidestepping milestones we once held as firm markers of growing up.”-Tracy Moore, WaPo

Excessive screen time and inadequate time outdoors. Check. This was largely brought on by a pandemic. They go outdoors now but they still wear their masks because the mask is either a social fashion statement or they are legitimately so scared they could die if they catch the latest Omicron, BA,5 or BQ.1. There are also self-image issues with these kids who argue for mask-wearing because they do not like what they see in the mirror.

But yeah, the kids are alright.

Climate change activists have so effectively beat the drum of doom that many Gen Zers don’t want to become parents.

Hoooo, boy. Like “climate change activist” and now anti-Capitalist (who is currently capitalizing on book sales) poster-child, Greta Thunberg? She is technically an adult now (19) and part of Gen Z. This is a young woman whose Autism was capitalized on by her very own parents (which could be an argument for abuse in some cases). This is also a young woman whose disability was exploited by Democrats and leftist think-tanks worldwide. She has been allowed time and time again to skip school, appear on national television throwing temper tantrums at other adults who did not follow along with her delusions and is now telling her peers that Capitalism is responsible “imperialism, oppression, genocide.. racist, oppressive extractionism.”

This kid’s alright, don’t you think?

They also are not angling for the summer job and the driver’s license, says Moore.

I mean, why the hell would they? If Capitalism is bad, why would they want to make money? The government should be taking care of all of us and there should be no need for a working society. Therefore, no need to get up off of one’s ass and get a driver’s license to get to said job. They are also so scared of their own shadows. And an eight-hour shift might literally kill them. They just can’t even.

Literally. “He” almost walked out. AND, this barista (sniffle, sniffle) got misgendered! This barista, apparently, is also an Ivy League student. This is Gen-Z. Ready to walk off the job because they do not feel they are making what they are entitled to in this life. Ready to walk off the job because they got misgendered when their gender identity wavers from day to day.

Yeah, these kids are alright. Moore elaborates:

But I find it to be an honor to parent a Gen Z tween — and I am far less fearful about their future. For my money, they are the most diverse, engaged, social-justice-minded, purpose-driven generation yet, and we have every reason to anticipate their success, or at least not to presume their failure.

My kid, who uses they/them pronouns, mock eye-rolls my explanations of life in the 90s; I mock eye-roll their lack of lived experience of the era they love to co-opt. Then we play each other songs. Most of the time, I’m doing most of the learning.

I know I’m supposed to be irritated and alarmed by the modern tween. I’m supposed to complain that walking them into school is now ‘cringe.’ That they can’t be pulled from their bedrooms unless it’s a medical emergency, like the need for boba. That they are identity-fluid; that they twerk; that they say ‘bruh’ too much; that they cannot be pried from their videos without a market-competitive bribe.”-Tracy Moore, WaPo

Of course, her tween uses they/them pronouns. Moore calls Gen-Z “socially attuned” and “wickedly funny”. I’m just not sure how a Gen-Z individual is purpose-driven if one cannot pry them out of their bedrooms but for Boba tea and encourage them to be gutsy AF and get a driver’s license so they can drive themselves to get the next COVID booster but this is whatever. Here, now, comes the author’s humblebrag:

Sure, they’re growing up slower, but when I consider that they have never not known right-wing madness, climate disaster, economic uncertainty and an erosion of civil rights, I cannot blame them. If anything, I share their cynicism.

Well, Gen X parents are trying to impart resilience, emotional intelligence, mental health support and a sober acceptance of the hand the world deals to produce a better generation, one capable of continuing to change our circumstances. I think we have, whether it appears that way on the surface or not.”-Tracy Moore, WaPo

A sober acceptance to produce a better generation? From one cynical Gen X mom to another, how is telling a child that they can identify as anything they want besides their God-given body parts a sober reality? How is allowing them to do this giving them any resilience and emotional intelligence? How is keeping them glued to TikTok creating a “better generation”? And, as far as future generations go, if we keep them so petrified and scared of Climate Change, pandemics and we continue to shoot ’em up with harmful hormones, there will not be any future generations. Let us not forget that telling our children that they were nothing but a meaningless clump of cells when we first heard their hearts beating inside of us does wonders to their psyche and their overall view of humanity.

Moore ends on this note with a tweet from a parent-

I’m a Gen X raising a Gen Z and let me tell you … they understand the assignment. They are diverse, inclusive, and amazing.”

As a Gen X mom, I would say my son’s path is way different than the above. I don’t have to pry him out of his room with gifts. He even checks on me to make sure I am okay during the day (if I don’t check in with him first). He understands his assignments (both from at birth and in the classroom), he respects others even if he doesn’t agree, he knows who he is and even drives himself to school, work and wrestling practice. He scratches his head and wonders and worries about his peers he sees going down a the very dark path of force-fed ideology. He questions it.

Must be all of that “right-wing madness” going on in my home but from one Gen X mom to another, I think this kid’s gonna be alright, Bruh.

Photo Credit: Kristoffer Trolle, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons