For quite some time now, the term Gen Z has attracted significant infamy around it. The obvious thing is that no generation has been as misunderstood, and their actions collectively misconstrued this much before.
We are talking about a generation that speaks one language at school, another at home, and a third one on social media while listening to playlists that reflect five continents. A generation whose sense of self-identity cannot be pigeonholed to fit neatly into traditional categories by anyone.
The question of ‘who am I?’ regarding the Gen Zs refuses to be answered by the mere simplicity of birthplace, tribe, or even native language. They belong everywhere and nowhere, all at once.
Their notion of cultural identity is not only complex and fluid but also seemingly conflicted. Their value system, which turns out to be the genesis of all their feuds with authorities and elders, is a product of ancestral wisdom (nature) and global megatrends (nurture). Is it enough, therefore, to say Gen Zs are the authors of their own misfortunes?
First, there seems to be a way in which many elders, parents and caregivers have lost the moral and legal authority which they had in the old world, and they lack self-confidence as educators of the generation that should take after them.
Also, there’s the ubiquitous bias where every generation believes and proclaims itself to be wiser and progressive than its predecessor.
While new parents think that their parenting style makes them better at parenting compared to their own parents, Gen Zs view the past from which their parents and elders are coming from as inferior.
As the saying goes, by the time a man realises that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong. But that’s only one side of the coin.
In advanced social studies there exists a concept called hybrid identity. Simply put, this refers to the experience of navigating multiple cultural influences simultaneously.
And the Gen Zs—many of whom can move across borders physically, digitally, and psychologically have an immediate and generous access to newer ideas, disruptive technologies, fresh perspectives, remote opportunities and enlightening experiences daily.
This rapid acquisition and exchange of cultures compels the Gen Zs to absorb foreign norms with neither the context nor the coping mechanisms required to successfully process and assimilate them.
This results in a dissonance between the cultures they inherit and the ones they engage with, metastasizing to an insidious identity crisis hidden behind psychological defence mechanisms, glamorous social media posts and self-deprecating memes.
Much of the world, in disbelief, only takes notice of the Gen Zs at the eruption of mutiny and outbursts of anger. Seldom do we see the motley of suppressed emotions—sadness, frustrations and fear.
Gen Zs are not to be labelled as barbarians, they are the heart of the matter. They are rightfully here, and they require full support in challenging times and during prosperity.
History stands ready to vindicate them - amid inexpressible grudges, deep-rooted inequalities, the weight of choice in an age of information overload and burnout, and the unfulfilled human longing for understanding and belonging.
Objectively speaking, though, hybrid identity is a double-edged sword. In fact, of all things that have been said about Gen Zs, no one has ever accused them of lacking adaptability, style, numbers, unity of purpose, grace or energy.
Gen Z's ability to engage on interdisciplinary issues and intercultural ways such as this ought to be encouraged if not celebrated. What more does the world require in the 21st century?
How will we ever understand ourselves and our situation if we close our minds to the notion of a society, culture, or world different from the one in which we live?
Perhaps all that Gen Z are subtly asking for is unconditional positive regard (UPR) from the elders, an enabling environment from the authorities and mentorship from those who have walked the journey before them.
A balanced and holistic curriculum (inclusive of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences) aiming to provide opportunities for integrative thinking and imagination, for creativity and discovery, and for patriotic citizenship will also go a long way.
The holy writ in Matthew 7:9-10 poses a sobering question: Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
