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It has come to my attention recently that the newest generation, "Gen Z" is a little bit different than the previous generations. We can say that for all generations, but this is the only opening I could think of this topic.
Generation Z, or iGen is anybody born after the year 2000, to present day. I fit in this category. But I've noticed something: I can't understand a word they're saying.
With the exception of Olivia, (who moved to another state late last year) I haven't talked to a kid my age in all 16 of my years on planet earth. I have always preferred to hang out with the adults. They have given me more wisdom than I could ever learn with the younger generation, and besides, my remote location didn't help matters.
One day, Bored with all the raining it was doing, I decided to play a multiplayer military strategy game on the computer. Never again will I be so foolish.
The conversations being typed onto the screen were tame and clean, but I barley understood a word of it. Every sentence was abbreviated in some fashion, and the emojis used would baffle even though most experienced of Egyptian hieroglyphic code crackers. One kind young lady took time to explain to me what was being said. She than asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her typed words, "how old are you, geezer?". I replied "16, and I am helplessly clueless, ma'am". The entire room typed in "lol" over and over. To them, I seemed as weird as a Swede selling Chinese food in Guatemala. I decided that the world of artifact forums was a much better use of my time. I hung around a while more, just to see what they would do. "I am not your old lady" she said. Don't be so freakin' formal. What are you still stuck in the 19th century?". I replied that the Civil War was what I studied, and I love learning about life back then. The room erupted in lol implied laughter again, and frankly I was amused. "I also knap arrowheads, and study early ancient native american culture". With that, they told me in less than kind words to "shut up professor". Shut up I did, and I left promptly.
I know that not all kids are like that, but isn't it worrisome that they don't even pretend to care? History is an important thing to study, and every kid I have encountered so far could care less about some dusty relics, or arrowheads. They are too busy texting, wearing jeans that restrict blood flow to vital organs and drinking unholy amounts of diet soda. As a Gen Z, it worries me that these are the folks that I have to trust to carry on the stuff that's important: knowledge. I am just not seeing it when I turn on the TV, or read the news paper. Do you guys feel the same?
Generation Z, or iGen is anybody born after the year 2000, to present day. I fit in this category. But I've noticed something: I can't understand a word they're saying.
With the exception of Olivia, (who moved to another state late last year) I haven't talked to a kid my age in all 16 of my years on planet earth. I have always preferred to hang out with the adults. They have given me more wisdom than I could ever learn with the younger generation, and besides, my remote location didn't help matters.
One day, Bored with all the raining it was doing, I decided to play a multiplayer military strategy game on the computer. Never again will I be so foolish.
The conversations being typed onto the screen were tame and clean, but I barley understood a word of it. Every sentence was abbreviated in some fashion, and the emojis used would baffle even though most experienced of Egyptian hieroglyphic code crackers. One kind young lady took time to explain to me what was being said. She than asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her typed words, "how old are you, geezer?". I replied "16, and I am helplessly clueless, ma'am". The entire room typed in "lol" over and over. To them, I seemed as weird as a Swede selling Chinese food in Guatemala. I decided that the world of artifact forums was a much better use of my time. I hung around a while more, just to see what they would do. "I am not your old lady" she said. Don't be so freakin' formal. What are you still stuck in the 19th century?". I replied that the Civil War was what I studied, and I love learning about life back then. The room erupted in lol implied laughter again, and frankly I was amused. "I also knap arrowheads, and study early ancient native american culture". With that, they told me in less than kind words to "shut up professor". Shut up I did, and I left promptly.
I know that not all kids are like that, but isn't it worrisome that they don't even pretend to care? History is an important thing to study, and every kid I have encountered so far could care less about some dusty relics, or arrowheads. They are too busy texting, wearing jeans that restrict blood flow to vital organs and drinking unholy amounts of diet soda. As a Gen Z, it worries me that these are the folks that I have to trust to carry on the stuff that's important: knowledge. I am just not seeing it when I turn on the TV, or read the news paper. Do you guys feel the same?
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