Generation Z
"[56] The Pew Research Center has defined 1997 as the starting birth year for Generation Z, basing this on "different formative experiences", such as new technological and socioeconomic developments, as well as growing up in a world after the September 11 attacks.
[93] During the 2000s and especially the 2010s, youth subcultures that were as influential as what existed during the late 20th century became scarcer and quieter, at least in real life though not necessarily on the Internet, and more ridden with irony and self-consciousness due to the awareness of incessant peer surveillance.
[94][95] In Germany, for instance, youth appears more interested in a more mainstream lifestyle with goals such as finishing school, owning a home in the suburbs, maintaining friendships and family relationships, and stable employment, rather than popular culture, glamor, or consumerism.
[109] Other songs that gained popularity with Gen Z from being included Stranger Things include Metallica's song Master of Puppets,[110][111] The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, Limahl's Never Ending Story, The Police's Every Breath You Take, Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, Madonna's Material Girl, Toto's Africa, REO Speedwagon's Can't Fight This Feeling, Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night and Never Surrender, Peter Gabriel's cover of Heroes, Musical Youth's Pass the Dutchie and Journey's Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).
[131] Fan fiction writers base their work on various internationally popular cultural phenomena such as K-pop, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Twilight, Doctor Who, and My Little Pony, known as 'canon', as well as other things they considered important to their lives, like natural disasters.
[160] Statistical projections from the United Nations in 2019 suggest that, in 2020, the people of Niger had a median age of 15.2, Mali 16.3, Chad 16.6, Somalia, Uganda, and Angola all 16.7, the Democratic Republic of the Congo 17.0, Burundi 17.3, Mozambique and Zambia both 17.6.
[182] In the West, while majorities might signal their support for certain ideals such as "environmental consciousness" to pollsters, actual purchases do not reflect their stated views, as can be seen from their high demand for cheap but not durable clothing ("fast fashion"), or preference for rapid delivery.
[190] American high-school graduates could join the job market right away,[191] with employers offering them generous bonuses, high wages, and apprenticeship programs in order to offset the ongoing labor shortage.
[35] Developmental cognitive psychologist David Geary observed that Western educators remained "resistant" to the possibility that even the most talented of schoolchildren needed encouragement and support and tended to concentrate on low performers.
[202][199] But even before the pandemic, undergraduate and graduate enrollments of native-born American citizens have both been in decline,[203][204] while trade schools continue to attract growing numbers of students due to a shortage of high-skilled blue-collar workers.
[34] Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) indicate that while the percentages of teenagers reporting mental-health issues (such as psychological distress and loneliness) remained approximately the same during the 2000s, they steadily increased during the 2010s.
[31][32] Consequences of sleep deprivation include low mood, worse emotional regulation, anxiety, depression, increased likelihood of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and impaired cognitive functioning.
Various factors that increased youth anxiety and depression include over-parenting,[227] perfectionism (especially with regards to schoolwork),[228] social isolation, social-media use, financial problems, housing worries, and concern over some global issues such as climate change.
[230][231] A 2017 study from the Dominican Republic suggests that students from all sectors of the educational system utilize the Internet for academic purposes, yet those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to rank the lowest in terms of reading comprehension skills.
Moreover, some other cognitive abilities, such as simple reaction time, color acuity, working memory, the complexity of vocabulary usage, and three-dimensional visuospatial reasoning have shown signs of secular decline.
Ophthalmologist Steve Schallhorn, chairman of the Optical Express International Medical Advisory Board, noted that research has pointed to a link between the regular use of handheld electronic devices and eyestrain.
While the annual number of deaths worldwide due to HIV/AIDS has declined from its peak in the early 2000s, experts warned that this venereal disease could rebound if the world's booming adolescent population is left unprotected.
The Australian Medical Associated and Obesity Coalition have urged the federal government to levy a tax on sugary drinks, to require health ratings, and to regulate the advertisement of fast foods.
Moreover, in some cultures, pubertal onset remains a marker of readiness for marriage, for, in their point of view, a girl who shows signs of puberty might engage in sexual intercourse or risk being assaulted, and marrying her off is how she might be 'protected'.
[19] Other triggers include genetic factors, high body-mass index (BMI), exposure to endocrine-disrupting substances that remain in use, such as Bisphenol A (found in some plastics) and dichlorobenzene (used in mothballs and air deodorants), and to banned but persistent chemicals, such as dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and perhaps a combination thereof (the 'cocktail effect').
This investigation relies on measurements of thelarche (initiation of breast tissue development) using the Tanner scale rather than self-reported menarche (first menstruation) and MRI brain scans for signs of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis being reactivated.
The movement involved millions of young people around the world who followed the footsteps of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg to skip school in order to protest in favor of greater action on climate change.
[249][250][251] By the early 2020s, young voters in Europe have become increasingly concerned about the rising cost of living, violent crime, declining public services in rural areas, immigration, and the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Moreover, the quality and affordability of various addictive drugs have improved in recent years, making them an appealing alternative to alcoholic beverages for many young people, who now have the ability to arrange a meeting with a dealer via social media.
Addiction psychiatrist Adam Winstock of UCL found using his Global Drug Survey that young people rated cocaine more highly than alcohol on the basis of value for money, 4.8 compared to 4.7 out of 10.
[279] In the United Kingdom, there was a widespread belief in the early 21st century that rising parental, societal and state concern for the safety of children was leaving them increasingly mollycoddled and slowing the pace they took on responsibilities.
[281][282][283] The same period saw a rise in child-rearing's position in the public discourse with parenting manuals and reality TV programs focused on family life, such as Supernanny, providing specific guidelines for how children should be cared for and disciplined.
[304][305][306] An online newspaper about texting, SMS and MMS writes that teens own cellphones without necessarily needing them; that receiving a phone is considered a rite of passage in some countries, allowing the owner to be further connected with their peers, and it is now a social norm to have one at an early age.
Countries or education systems whose students scored near or above the international average of 496 in CIL were, in increasing order, France, North Rhine-Westphalia, Portugal, Germany, the United States, Finland, South Korea, Moscow, and Denmark.
[315] A 2020 report by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)—available only by request due to the presence of graphic materials—suggests that parents either are in denial or are completely oblivious to the prevalence of pornography viewership by adolescents, with three quarters telling researchers that they did not believe their children consumed such material.
