Gen Z.... downer news

Generation Zers form the demographic in between the Millennials and Generation Alpha. Typically the birth years range from the mid-to-late 1990s to the early 2010s and these are generally the children of Generation Xers or older Millennials. They were the first to grow up with screens, specifically the screens that access the internet.  They are also known for being more allergic, less hopeful, and having more mental health diagnoses than other generations.  When it comes to the US, this generation is known also for their overall lack of trust or belief in religion, their disappointment and disillusionment in politics and government, and for the general rejection of marriage, parenthood, and family.  In fact, Gen Zers are the least religious generation in history!  The most common psychiatric disorders among Gen Zers include ADHD, anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders, and depression.  I could go on...  Before we rush to judge them, we might look in the mirror and ask ourselves what their parents and grandparents did wrong in raising a generation so detached from the anchors that give meaning and happiness to us as people.

One thing we must admit is that the parents of these children spent more time with them and provided them with more of the fruits of their incomes, technology, and leisure than ever before.  It cannot be that it is absentee parents who sowed the seeds of such discontent.  It must be in what the parents did provide that we find some link between the great disconnect between this generation and those who went before them.  This reinforces the proposition that parents are key to their children's growth and maturity even if they are not solely responsible for them.  What parents do and what they do not do sows the seeds that bear fruit in the later teenage and adult years of their children.  Sadly, here, it is not simply a loss of values or faith but the seeds of depression and despair that seem much more prevalent with this generation than others.  Or is it that the loss of values and faith in and of itself is tied to depression and despair?  That is my point.

Faith provides an anchor and a worldview which runs counter to the churning sea of change and the prevailing norms of culture and society.  Christian faith anchors our lives in Christ's life and creates a worldview through the cross.  By failing to raise their children in this faith, even those who claim to be Christian have deprived their children of more than a choice -- they have robbed their children of a source of meaning, purpose, and hope in their lives.  

Compared to Boomers, Gen Xers seemed to be all about parenting. They are a generation that focuses on learning about parenting and caring about work-life balance. They understand the importance of individualism and tend to more freely support their children’s choices for different lifestyles more than past generations. Generation X is also a generation of parents more directly involved in their kids’ development.  Millenials are having fewer children and are less likely to be married to have kids. Technology, the internet, and social media are all major influencers in their lives as parents and in the lives of their children. This is an open-minded generation of parents who are parenting in various styles that were not common to generations before. They may have been the children of helicopter parents so they are trying to be freer parents in approach compared with older generations.  But what is common to both generations is that they do not pass onto their children a set of values or the anchor of faith.

While they focus on their children's emotional health, they do not promote a Christian identity rooted in the holy joy of their life as a child of God by baptism and as sinners forgiven and redeemed by Jesus Christ.  While they teach children to be accepting of all, they do not equip their children with objective or solid truth and so they find it hard to promote the truth of Scripture except as one version or choice.  While they allow them to explore their identities more fully, they do not promote the traditional roles of husband, wife, father and mother nor do they encourage marriage as the shape of their life and community. While they teach their children to be environmentally conscious, they do not promote a sacredness of life nor encourage the protection of life from womb to tomb.  In effect, they give their children options instead of truth and Jesus is but one of those options.