Generation Z is entering the workforce, growing up, and making an impact.

Gen Z is the youngest generation with adult members. The exact ages considered Gen Z are often debated, but a general understanding is that Gen Z is made up of individuals born between 1996 and 2012.

That includes me.

I’ve seen plenty of things on social media tagging Gen Z as lazy, uneducated, and unreliable, especially as they are being seen in workplace atmospheres.

I’ve also been told this to my face.

Recently, I had a conversation with an older woman who went on and on about how the young people in my generation, such as myself, are essentially ruining the state of the world. She argued nothing is the way it used to be and that society is destined to fail.

With the utmost respect, I sat there and listened. I assumed that’s all she wanted: an ear to hear her out.

Understandable.

I remained pretty quiet during the conversation, mostly from shock, but also because I felt insulted as she threw me into a stereotype because of my age, as if I had chosen to be born in that period.

Imagine telling a total stranger who they are and what they know, or, more specifically, that they know nothing because they’re young. Or that their beliefs are wrong, when you don’t even know what they believe.

That’s the definition of prejudice: a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason.

She went on to tell me that those in their youth are a lazy and uneducated generation that relies on and is glued to our phones.

Personally, I take a bit of offense to that notion.

I can understand that some people might actually be lazy and don’t set a good standard, but I worked hard to be where I am and I continue to push beyond my limits to be better at what I do and to learn more. As do a lot of hard-working people who are around my age.

Honestly, I believe that said stereotype illustrates the era we live in, rather than the recent generation. I think that Gen Z gets a bad rap because we grew up in this era, full of technology and other possibilities that previous generations didn’t have.

In reality, we’re all pretty attached to our phones. I don’t know many people who leave the house without their phone, unless by accident.

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to argue that we hold a world of knowledge at our fingertips with our phones in hand. So when that older woman told me that we don’t research and that we vote by the seat of our pants, I wanted to reason that I think we research too much. There’s so much information out there and in our faces all the time, it’s harder to not put any thought and extra time into it.

But I think that the argument was more about her political views, and we as a generation voted, stereotypically, for things that go against those ideas.

I feel proud to say that Gen Z turns away from the idea of being strictly red or strictly blue, which was more popular in the past. Rather, studies have shown that the generation tends to vote on issues and candidates, rather than for parties. Which, I could argue, says that we put more thought into it, rather than ticking one box versus the other.

So, yes, things are different from “back in the day,” but isn’t that the point? To change with our ever-changing world?

Gen Z continues to prove themselves with a mindset of efficiency, innovation, and equality. They also bring in a new perspective and challenge traditions.

But, because those opinions are often nontraditional and out-of-the-box, I think people find it hard to trust or even try to understand any reasoning behind the thought.

I realize that I am young and that I have a lifetime of things to learn ahead of me, but I don’t think that makes me any less human or any more foolish.

I think that, as someone growing up in this generation, my opinions might be insightful as to how to take traditional things and work them to fit in today’s society.

And maybe I should’ve spoken up for myself and my generation that day, or maybe we can all learn to understand one another for who they are and for the things that they experience.

Opinions are meant to be valued. Sure, they can also be debated, but no person is a lesser version of another because their mind works differently.

– Alpena News