Why I have no hope for Generation Z

i was at a concert Wednesday night when I had the most eye opening experience — I have a strong sense of sadness for Generation Z (and some from Generation Y as well, just to be inclusive.) 

This particular concert was at a bar in downtown St. Louis. I’d never been there before, but a friend and I had looked up online that 21+ get early entrance to the show, and since we’re both older than dirt, we grazed to that line. We had met a couple of people in the line that we had began talking to, some the same age as us and some older. Those older definitely seemed to have their shit together, however, those the same age as us seemed to be attention seekers. They constantly were taking pictures of themselves, having us take pictures of themselves, having others, and then during the concert (which we were all second row), proceeded to jump up and down like this was some rave when in reality, it was just Nick Jonas (which I mean could be a big deal to some people, but definitely wasn’t to these.) They were throwing up their sorority gang symbols constantly and elbowing everyone around them—lucky me!!— to try and “dance” so that he would notice them. Thank God that he’s not that type of person to feed into that kind of thing, so he basically avoided all eye contact with him. 

While those individuals are a part of Generation Y, like myself, the front row of the establishment was set aside for those who bought VIP packages. The VIP packages started at $200 and were basically insane from there on up. Obviously the only kind of people who are going to buy those are die hard Nick Jonas fans, and those that can afford it with mommy & daddy’s money. Those that were in the front row were 100% Generation Z. I met a great girl in front of us, that had to have been in high school, who was around the same age as the others in the front row, but her demeanor was much different than those in the front—however, she is one of few. 

Before the concert, they were much like the friends I had met before that were in my generation, taking pictures of everything. Themselves, the opening act, themselves with the opening act, and when Bebe threw her drum stick out oh shit. Generation Z went WILD, which was terrifying to say the least because most of them had NO IDEA who she was. It was when he came out, though, that struck a nerve in me. I understand that Generation Y is the first generation to grow up in a technology filled environment, and we’re much more susceptible to things of that sort. Much isn’t known about Generation Z at this point, but what I CAN tell you, is I have no hope for them. 

The girls in the front row, sorry if you were one of the few fellas there, aside from the girl that I had mentioned above, spent 3/4 of the concert taking selfies. They took selfies of themselves, turned around and took selfies while Nick Jonas was in the picture, took selfies with their friends in a similar fashion of the latter, too. Like no. It was terrible. Standing behind them made me realize they literally spend the entire concert on Snapchat/Instagram. They talked about how many likes they got on their picture with Nick, and when he even primarily looked their way a couple of times, when they were ACTUALLY LOOKING AT HIM, they shrieked like it was the end of the world and immediately brought up their phones to try and get a picture of this. 

I understand wanting to document your experiences someplace, I really do. When digital cameras were a thing, I was ALL OVER bringing them into Jonas Brothers concerts and seeing which picture I could best get of any of the brothers, and spazzing out while I did it. However, I was a baby 13 year old that had nothing better to do with my life than revolve it around the Jonas Brothers. When I was 16,17,18, like these individuals at the concert, I was not obsessed with taking the best selfie, or documenting every single thing that i did.

When I thought of that experience, I explored the same thing on Saturday when my university had a football game. The section I’m in primarily is full of freshman, Generation Z, with a few exceptions—yay me! again. I mean, it’s definitely a choice to be in that section, and I don’t regret it, but I guess I had never noticed anything of the sort until I went to the concert and noticed it. The game started early in the morning, so naturally everyone was at their worst due to getting up at 6 AM to watch a football game, right? Wrong. The front row of this section is ~exclusive, and they get their bodies painted with whatever catchy phrase was came up with and it’s plastered all over ESPN during the game. It definitely is a cool experience, but not as cool of an experience that I have to document every living second before the game starts— because the coordinators would NOT allow Nick-Jonas-Wednesday-night-generation-z material during the game, and either would the university. However, before? They can’t control any of that shit. 

These girls stood in front of the 40 yard line taking every selfie from every angle that they could. They asked, literally (and I know people overuse that word, but this was LITERALLY) every single person around them to take their picture, including my friends and I. I laughed at the friend that actually volunteered, mostly because he probably thought they were hot, as they had already gotten nearly 40 pictures of themselves taken from everyone around them. Then they proceeded to selfie with themselves, and after they got painted, continued to do so… while getting black and yellow paint all over themselves and after complaining that their Under Armour bra was going to get paint all over it—even though that was the point of lining up for the front row. 

I wasn’t expecting world peace and nobel prizes from Generation Z, but I also wasn’t expecting people who are obsessed with themselves and documenting THEMSELVES for the further future. I’ve never seen a generation so self-obsessed and obsessed with their phones and the social media that is on them than Generation Z. A generation so absorbed in their technology that they have to bring their charging cords to a concert and ask the bouncers if they can plug it in and are missing entire experiences around them. They’re missing experiences they paid for, for experiences that could disappear with the click of a “delete” button on a phone or a developers choice. What’s wrong with Generation Z is the fact that they’re missing the entire world around them, and they don’t even care. They’re not phased by asking a stranger to take a picture, or ten, of themselves, and are disappointing performers because they’re not watching a fucking thing. Welcome to the generation that IS NOT going to care about the things going on around them, because they’re only going to care about themselves. And while there are some good ones in that generation, like my cousin who literally gives no fucks about those portions of her life, but about changing things for the better… but then on the other side of the table, there’s my other cousin who is one year older than her, and is complaining to my aunt that she got less likes on Instagram than she ever had before and was about to cry about it.

That is what’s wrong with Generation Z, and I honestly, honestly hope that social media come sto a crash, so that there’s SOME hope left for that generation.Wh