Many people have this question about the current generation (Generation Z). Parents especially worried about their child's bright future keep turning to this question. It is not that only the parents of this generation think this way. Their parents thought the same. Once, Ishwari Patni prayed: Let my child live in affluence (Amar Sontan Jeno Thake Dudhe Vate). Late US President Franklin D Roosevelt more than eighty years ago said: “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Many problems in society will be solved if you remember this.

Generation Z, also known as Zoomers, consists of the demographic cohort born between 1997 and 2012. Therefore, their age range is between 12 and 27 years old.

Some members of this generation are teenagers pursuing their education, while others are young adults doing various jobs. Currently, news after news of unbearable heat waves, several states engaging in war-conflict-crisis problems, etc., have already left us feeling miserable, so what is there to be getting so excited about Gen Z?

Indeed, older people who have gone through many struggles in their lives often envy the present generation. This is because they did not have the same opportunities during childhood, adolescence and youth. Today, however, children are getting everything they ask for.

Many people have heard the phrase “you're completely ruined” from their fathers. Nowadays, many parents complain that they do not understand their children, but it is not necessarily their (children’s) fault. The issue is that parents often see children through their ancestors’ eyes.

The Padma River flows with 1.5 million cubic metres of water every second, and time moves much faster than that. Therefore, it can be challenging to understand your child fully, and it is expected to encounter more differences than similarities when you try.

In the past, the generation gap was around 25-30 years, separating the younger and older generations based on their thoughts, beliefs and actions. However, some experts believe this gap has now been reduced to 15 years due to technological advancements, globalisation, smaller families, career-oriented individuals, societal changes and widespread use of social media.

There is a common accusation that today’s children are too self-centred. This statement is usually directed towards Gen Z. However, is this true? If anyone is indeed self-centred, the responsibility should be attributed to their upbringing.

But let’s consider some recent movements, like the Road Safety Movement and the withdrawal of VAT on private university fees movement.

Who did start these movements? Also, take a look at how students from different American universities are protesting against the mass killings of the Israeli military in Gaza today. Even though America and its allies support Israel, nothing can stop these protests, not even arrests or university expulsions.

Who are these brave protesters? They belong to Gen Z, and there are Bangladeshi students among them. They did not care about their comfortable future in America; instead, they stood up against injustice. Can we still call them selfish?

The older generation must understand that the future of the world rests in the hands of Gen Z. That is why they should not only be aware of all the issues, including the current volatile state of the world, societal inequality and the lack of consistency between words and actions but also be vocal in protest.

A few years ago, a survey among American teenagers revealed that they were not interested in politics because they felt that politicians did not care about them. If you take a closer look, you will notice that most governments and heads of state are over seventy years old. Someone like Biden is over eighty years old. It is time for them to step down from political power, but they continue to hold onto it.

Climate change is a significant issue, and the world has agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. However, when Trump became the US president, he declared that he did not believe in global warming and stopped supplying money to international funds. However, when Biden became the president, he started funding again.

This is just one example of how changing leaders can impact crucial decisions. If Gen Z does not trust politicians, it is not unreasonable. According to the Economist, more than a thousand Zoomers are currently in positions of various political parties in America. They are willing to influence decision-making to shape the future world. Therefore, it is not true that Gen Z is apolitical or ignorant about politics.

According to recent surveys, many young people are more interested in moving abroad, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Some want to attend a good university overseas to pursue their studies, while others are interested in seeking employment opportunities abroad. If it is acceptable for someone from a remote area to come to Dhaka, aiming to earn better wages and support their family, why should we criticise Gen Z members who desire to work abroad?

Check out our e-commerce and f-commerce websites. Many young people work there independently and productively. Some of them even work for foreign companies within our country. In America, more than six thousand CEOs are Zoomers, and if we had collected statistics here, we would have found a significant number of young CEOs as well.

Many members of Gen Z suffer from anxiety and depression, according to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He has even written a book called ‘The Anxious Generation’ about this topic. Haidt believes that the excessive use of social media is to blame for this trend. Due to the easy accessibility of the internet and smartphones, young people face new challenges, such as difficulties in establishing their self-identity. One aspect of this is their gender identity, as they struggle to determine whether they identify as male, female, both or neither.

Moreover, the internet limits their thought processes, as platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok encourage quick and easy information consumption, with many young people feeling less inclined to read longer texts or books.

We must take responsibility for creating and solving problems to make the world future-generation friendly. Gen Z will undoubtedly succeed.

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The writer is an Executive

Editor of Digital Media,

Independent Television