Episode 94: Who is Generation Z?

Mil­len­ni­als are per­haps the most stud­ied gen­er­a­tion in his­to­ry. For years, new stud­ies on Mil­len­ni­als seemed to be pub­lished every day. But there is a new gen­er­a­tion on the rise; a gen­er­ation marked­ly dif­fer­ent from pre­ced­ing gen­er­a­tions: Gen­er­a­tion Z.

Born any­where from 1996 to 2012, we still have much to learn about this gen­er­a­tion. In this episode of Christian Curious, Dr. Halee chats with two members of Gen Z to learn more--her daughters, Eliana and Vivienne Scott.

Want to learn more about Christian Curious? We'd love for you to check out our website! https://www.christiancurious.com/

Transcript

Mil­len­ni­als are per­haps the most stud­ied gen­er­a­tion in his­to­ry. For years, new stud­ies on Mil­len­ni­als seemed to be pub­lished every day. But there is a new gen­er­a­tion on the rise, a gen­er­a­tion marked­ly dif­fer­ent from pre­ced­ing gen­er­a­tions: Gen­er­a­tion Z. Born any­where from 1996 to 2012, we still have much to learn about this gen­er­a­tion. This is Chris­t­ian Cu­ri­ous, and I’m your host, Dr. Halee Gray Scott. Each week, we tack­le some of the hard­est, most press­ing ques­tions fac­ing Chris­tians in the 21st cen­tu­ry. 

Today, I have the great joy to speak with my daugh­ters, El­lie and Vivi, about the question: Who is Gen­er­a­tion Z? Eliana Scott is 13 years old and in the 8th grade. Her fa­vorite sport is soc­cer and she en­joys spend­ing time with friends. She is cur­rent­ly ob­sessed with Stranger Things. When asked what her fa­vorite sub­ject in school, she says sci­ence, but re­al­ly, her true fa­vorite thing about school is lunch, when she gets a break from class to hang out with her friends. Vivi­enne Scott is 11 years old and in 6th grade. Her fa­vorite sport is soc­cer and she en­joys watch­ing Net­flix and You­Tube. She even has her own You­Tube channel. Her fa­vorite sub­ject is his­to­ry be­cause she loves learn­ing about how the world came to be and the peo­ple who came be­fore her. 

El­lie, Vivi, wel­come to Chris­t­ian Cu­ri­ous.

Dr. Halee (1:31)

Over the last few years, your lives have been great­ly com­pli­cat­ed by COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. What are some of the things you learned about yourself dur­ing this time? What did you learn about the world?

Vivi (1:48)

I learned that I can do a lot of more skills than I thought I could. Instead of just sitting on the couch, I learned that I can draw and sing and do a lot more than I expected.

Halee (2:14)

So the flexibility gave you the opportunity to kind of learn some of your talents. What about you, Ellie?

Ellie (2:22)

I could say the same thing. Because I'm pretty sure that before the pandemic, we didn't do soccer. And then after it was over, we were so like starved for physical activity that we would be signed up for soccer and then figured out that we were good at it.

Dr. Halee (2:38)

Yeah, that's true. What did you learn about the world?

Ellie (2:43)

Time flies when you're all inside!
 
 

Dr. Halee (2:46)

Time flies when you're all inside? What about you, Vivi?

Vivi (2:49)

Same thing, same exact thing.

Dr. Halee (2:53)

Well, your generation is the most racially diverse generation in history, meaning you have unprecedented access to other cultures and people. And a lot during the pandemic. We watched a lot of foreign shows together from Korea, from Israel from and Mexico in many other places. What did you learn from those shows? What are some more important and interesting facts that you learned?

Ellie (3:30)

I learned that like, especially Korean cultures, they have lots of customs and their households like eating on the ground with a cushion and stuff like that. And then where I house shoes inside the house at all times. And it's just interesting to see like their daily customs of other cultures.

Dr. Halee (3:47)

Yeah, I wish we would do the house slippers thing. Yeah, Vivi, what did you learn? 

Vivi (3:54)

I learned that other cultures are still a lot like us. We can make situations really, really awkward. Everybody can.

Dr. Halee (4:21)

So awkwardness is a universal problem. Right? I think that that's one of your most big fears is socially awkward situations. Am I right?

Vivi (4:32)

Yeah.

Dr. Halee (4:34)

What are some of the other things that you learn from watching other cultures? I mean, you know, we watched so many different Korean films we watched, you know, a lot of adolescent films from Jerusalem. The girls from Israel, you know, what do you see? What are the similarities that you see between yourself and some of the people that you watch?

Ellie (5:03)

Um, this is a difficult question. I don't know, it's just that, I guess no matter where we are in the world, we all share similar things. I mean, like, I don't really know how to explain it, we all just share similarities, no matter where we live, or what we look like.

Dr. Halee (5:25)

All right. So, another one of the things we watched during the pandemic--this really reveals to everyone my parenting style during the pandemic--I was just shoving my kids around the television. But we watched this story, we well, we got 10 minutes into this documentary called mankind the story of all of us. And you both burst out laughing when the narrator explained in that in the beginning, there was a bang, which eventually led to the building blocks of all of life. Why did you find that so humorous?

Ellie (6:07)

I found it funny because honestly, it just, when you really think about it, it makes way more sense that a God created all of this, like, literally every single small detail than just a piece of dust or whatever.

Dr. Halee (6:23)

So, there is an intelligent creator, behind the universe makes more sense than the bang? 

Ellie (6:23)

Yeah, definitely. 

Dr. Halee (6:34)

What about you, Vivi?

Vivi (6:35)

Um, it's, it's really funny, because I bet they know that it can't be scientifically proven, but they still believe it. Just because they believe it. It doesn't make sense at all, but they still believe it.

Dr. Halee (6:52)

So, in a sense, you're kind of calling them out on the fact that they can't scientifically prove that a bang, the Big Bang created the universe, but they believe it anyway. Just like we believe in God, even though we can't scientifically, you know, prove him.

Ellie (7:23)

Yep. Yeah, like I was, I was about to say, like, we can't scientifically prove God either. But we have like tracts of in history of God, like, um, like the Bible, for example. It's all stories of where God's been and what he's done. And then there's actual proof of like Jesus existing. So I'd say our theory is a little more rock solid.

Dr. Halee (7:36)

How important is it to you that you know there will be facts and theories behind what you believe?

Ellie (7:44)

Um, I think, I don't know if it really matters. It just depends on your faith level. But to me, it's reassuring that there are facts and proof about God exists or Jesus existing. But the rest you have to show him with faith.

Dr. Halee (8:03)

So, what do you think about spirituality and religion? Because, you know, a lot of people say that people are becoming less religious. They may not be less spiritual, but they're becoming less religious. And so, I'd like to know what you think about spirituality and religion?

 Ellie (8:29)

Um, I think spirituality and religion are very part important in our daily life. Because I don't know, it's just seeing, it's just really important.

Dr. Halee (8:41)

Can you think of any examples of how it's important in your life?

Ellie (8:46)

I don't know. Just like, as you know, I like praying a lot, especially at night, and then also remind us before we eat sometimes, and that's the important part for me.

Dr. Halee (9:01)

Yeah. Why do you think it's important?

Ellie (9:05)

I don't really know why. But I feel like talking with is really important to me.

Dr. Halee (9:14)

Yeah, Vivi, what about you?

Vivi (9:18)

I also feel it's important because if you're in a tough situation, you do have some kind of reassurance that things can turn out fine. And it makes you feel better about seeing the world.

Dr. Halee (9:32)

So how do you see spirituality in your daily life? How do you How does spirituality affect your daily life?

Ellie (9:51)

It affects my daily life because I feel like the Christian community is really nice because especially at our church, we're really kind and inclusive, inclusive of everybody. And I just think it's really important because if you don't have spirituality, you don't really have a lot of faith in God. I feel like spirituality is really important.

Dr. Halee (10:20)

Yeah. So, you think that the community impacts your faith?

Ellie (10:27)

Yeah, because like, if you have a really crappy church, then honestly, you're not gonna, you're not gonna see God through that, and you're not gonna want to come back to church and see God more. And so with our church, it just keeps us keeps people coming, and keeps them coming back to learn more about God, so I think that's really cool.

Dr. Halee (10:49)

Well, you know, I've spent the last five years studying young adults and the faith of young adults, and the people that have the most problem with religion are the people who grew up in bad churches. So, I think that you hit it right on the nose about how important, you know, a good Christian community is. Ff you could describe the ideal Christian community or the ideal Christian group? What would it look like? 

Ellie (11:27)

I feel like it has to be full of God's love. And just like our church motto says: 
 “Connect with people, connect with Jesus, connect people with Jesus.” And I feel like our church leaders have to be trying to connect with us also connecting with Jesus at the same time. That way we can learn how to connect with you this as well. 

Dr. Halee (11:46)

What are the ways that your leaders have at church have tried to impact you or connect with you? You know, what, wait, what things have they done that have been really effective for you? 

Ellie (12:00)

Honestly, I just, um, my youth group leader, David, he really displays a lot of God's love and whatever he does, and he just shows you how much he loves you. Um, he just he just really loves every single kid that goes there a lot. And you can really see him showing God's love in that. 

Dr. Halee (12:21)

Yeah. So you know, the exhibit? Do you know, just, I guess it's just being Jesus in the world. You know, there's this song that goes,“your life is speaking so loud, I can't hear a word you say.” But if your character is just overwhelmingly, you know, full of God's love, then that really helps other people's faith. 

Ellie (12:47)

Yeah, because I think it's important to display God's love so people know what it's like to know Jesus. 

Dr. Halee (13:34)

So Vivi, how important is spirituality and Christianity, your faith in your daily life? 

Vivi (13:42)

It’s really important because I just feel if I'm alone, or feeling alone, I know that I'm not. I felt really alone, because Knox died. Our dog--but I knew that he went to a better place where isn't suffering, so that kind of reassured me. 

Dr. Halee 14:15

It brought me comfort. Yeah, that just happened two days ago. Having to put your dog down is probably one of the hardest things that you have to do as a family. It's really difficult. Um, you know, in our family, we've always tried to be sure that you know, we emphasize Christianity, but what do you see about spirituality and religion and my dear friends? Do you see it impacting your friends? How do your friends feel about it? 

Ellie (14:55)

I don't really know. I've tried to um, I feel like I think I remember one of my friends saying they used to go to church, but they fell out of it since their mom doesn't really go anymore. And I think a lot of it has to do with their parents, honestly. Because, um, I think their parents play a role in that as well, because they're the ones who were, who brought them into the world. And honestly, it's just like, a lot of people look up to their parents, and I think that their opinion and reassurance matters.

Dr. Halee (15:33)

What about you, Vivi?

Vivi (15:36)

I see it in my friend Abby. Um, she, she wanted to explore different religions. But her family didn't want to, and she tried to teach them about God, but they didn't listen. And she asked me. Like, “Will my family go to hell, since they don't believe in God?” 

Dr. Halee

What did you say? 

Vivi: 

I, I knew that if they didn’t, they would go there. I don't remember what I said. But I think I said yes. And she asked worriedly about it. That was a really awkward conversation. Yeah, but she texted me on Gmail, not texting, but nothing to me. So yeah.

Dr. Halee (16:49)

It's interesting that she would be the the one to start the conversations about, you know, spirituality and religion. Rather than, you know, it's usually the parents trying to get the children to go to church. But in this case, in her case, she was trying to get her parents to get to church. Why do you think that she wanted to know more about spirituality? And religion?

Vivi (17:15)

I'm not. I'm not sure about that. But I think I might have been the reason why because I, I didn't exactly kind of like, I'll preach about it to my friends. But I did like, talk about it. Sometimes. It's like, Hey, I'm Christian. Hmm. Yeah. And she probably picked up on that, and wondered about it. She was curious. Yep. Ellie, do you ever talk about your faith with your friends?

Ellie (17:46)

I'm not usually I mean, I've gotten to some conversations with them about it. Like I said, one of my friends, she used to go to church, but then she fell out of it, because we're parents, and then saw one of my other friends, she also used to go to church, but then she also fell out of it, because the religion was mostly her grandma's and passed down from her grandma's, from her grandma, to her parents to her. And so it's just kind of fading.

Dr. Halee (18:18)

You know, one of your closest friends is is a Muslim, too. And I, I'm curious about how you think about, you know, the Muslim faith and the Christian faith, and, you know, what are the similarities and the differences that you see? Or how do you, you know, how do you think about, you know, those two different religions?

Ellie (18:44)

I don't know. I mean, I'm, I certainly like our religion more than Muslim. I have two Muslim friends actually. And they actually talk to each other about the stuff but I think like, it's called EAD. Sorry if I'm wrong. But it's called EAD where they like, fast for a month, and focus on God. And I remember Hanifa, my friend texting me, she's like, I have to wake up at 4am every day just to eat, and to eat or to pray to eat before other day and then also pray. And I think, I think that it's important to focus on God. But I just feel like some other religions, their gods tend to require a lot from them. And it's just fast. It's just fascinating to see the other religions and play it out.

Dr. Halee (19:38)

Yeah, I mean, the Muslim faith, the Jewish faith in the Christian faith all come from Abraham. So Abraham was a father of three faiths. So since you have unprecedented access to the world through the internet and television, what You think about what is happening in the world today?

Ellie (20:05)

I don't know, there's a lot going on in our generation. I mean, and it's just, it's a, it's a pretty wide age group. And there's lots of differences, just between, in our age group, I mean, people in 1997, you said, people, um, people born that are gonna have a lot of different thoughts than me who was born like 13 years later. So it's just, it's not a big difference, but there's just a lot going on.

Dr. Halee (20:33)

Right? I mean, you know, and that's one of the things that I've thought a lot about-- this generation is so different. And usually, you know, the millennials are from 1981 until 1996. And usually a generation is 20 years, but they started Generation Z at 1996, because of September 11th. And those people had a conscious, you know, understanding of how much the world was changing. Because of that--that single event--you live in a post 911 world. You’re right, I mean, you are very different than those who are born in 1996. And, you know, I think that technology also is, you know, extremely has a part to play in how fast generations that are changing and how generations are getting shorter and shorter. I see, you know, just between you at 13, and Vivi at 11 that there are some really big differences. To be honest, you know, I think you can go a little bit longer without technology than Vivi can. Yeah. But what are some of the things that you see happening in the world that concern you?

Ellie (22:10)

I don't know, I just see lots and lots of arguments, and I feel like when I'm online, people are so rude. They're just bluntly rude. And then they just hide behind their screens, after saying all that stuff. And I feel like they just don't really think about the people's feelings who they're talking to. And think about that--there's actually another person in the world that's actually looking at what I said to them. And I just feel like maybe we should, our generation should be more considerate of others feelings of it.

Dr. Halee (22:52)

So primarily, where do you see these comments? Do you see these comments in video games and like Roblox? Or where do you where do you see these comments?

Ellie (23:04)

No, I don't really see them on Roblox but like, the people are, can sometimes be really harsh on like YouTube, and other social media platforms. I'm like, no matter what it is, always find a way to criticize it. And they don't find the beauty or the light and what this person is trying to do or what their motives are. And I just think that's a really negative outlook on life. And that people should always try to find the good side of what people are doing, unless it's really bad. And they don't deserve the good side. But I think people should be a little kinder to others. Yeah.

Dr. Halee (23:40)

Vivi, what would you say is the biggest concern you have about your future?

Vivi (23:47)

I'm just concerned that the hate will go up, like Ellie said. Ultimately, if you get too much of that, just even a tiny bit can increase suicide rates. And that that can be some of the reasons why people are getting these suicidal thoughts, because they're watching all these other people who have the glamorous life. And like an edited life. And also like, and also those people, these skinny girls are, are starving themselves. And that leads other girls to do that. And, um, it's just this. The internet can have a good side and a bad side and it's mainly and there's a lot of the bad side, but a lot of the good side so what Um, if we can't stop that bad side, we just need an even balance between the two.

Ellie (25:08)

Yeah, Ellie, just like Vivi said, I'm pretty sure our generation has like the highest suicide rates of any other generation. And they're like, quickly increasing, and it just breaks my heart. Because people, people are always. People are always so hateful until it's too late. And they're just so rude and judgmental. They just don't consider the other person until it's too late. And they can't take back anything they said. And I just feel like, that's heartbreaking, because there's just so many kids out there that are just lost, and just looking for help. So looking for a friend.

Dr. Halee (26:06)

This is my last question. But, you know, what do you think that leaders should be doing right now? To create a better future? What should we be doing?

Ellie (26:20)

In general, I feel like I'm just more love and reassurance and stuff like that, that can be really helpful. I see lots of pretty horrible parents out there. And they're just feeding into their child's up behavior and stuff like that. And it's just a complete cycle. Because sometimes if they have hateful parents are gonna grow up to be a hateful parent, and they're just going to harbor resentment for their parents forever.

Dr. Halee (26:56)

So, what should we do about that? 

Ellie (26:59)

I don't know. I mean, I don't know if you can change some parents, honestly. And I don't know how to change it. Because, um, I mean, I just don't know how to do that. I just wish that there was some way to like comfort all those kids out there. All the kids that don't have happy homes.

Dr. Halee (27:26)

Vivi, Ellie, thank you so much for being on Christian Curious. Listening to the voices of the young is not a crystal ball with firm predictions about the future, but these conversations do provide a window through which we can see where the world is headed. You've been listening to Christian curious with Dr. Haley Gray Scott. Visit our website at www.christiancurious.com to find more shows and more about us. Stay curious.