Hey Baby Boomers! Generation Z Have A Message For You.

Pic: Pexels / Kat Wilcox

Generation Z. Sounds like it’s from a rubbish 1960’s sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? I was born in 2004, so I’m part of this generation and let me tell you, people hate us. We intimidate and scare them because the things we believe and stand for are revolutionary and new.

Recently, I was in a production of a spoken word piece at Mountview, a famous drama school. The piece was called My Generation (it was about my generation, to clear things up). We performed to a deadpan wall of Baby Boomers, who, by the end, weren’t so deadpan. Instead, they were starting to question their opinions on my generation.

But that happens, doesn’t it? 60-something Jeremy might think, ‘Maybe those kids are more than we give them credit for, maybe they aren’t so braindead,’ before he turns on the horse racing again.

People don’t change with one short theatre show, especially not a group of people who have put their needs before the environment and the future that we have to live.

Look, the thought of a 5-year-old flossing in the dairy aisle in my local ASDA is as repulsive to me as it is to you. We can stand together in that, can’t we, Jeremy? Though, there are so many things that I resent and dislike you for. I could rant all day about all that you’ve done. Instead, let me calmly list some of those things.

Not only have your generation made life infinitely harder for my generation, but you’re unapologetic about it. I mean, the least you could give us for ruining our futures is an apology! We deserve it after you made such a mess of the UK housing market and used up nearly all of our fossil fuels to power the 12 bedroom and seven bathroom houses that you live in. A house, by the way, that we will never be able to afford now!

Furthermore, you’ve gone and tripped us up with Brexit, because no one can find a solution after months of looking! Seriously, how is my generation going to fix all of this in the future?

I could name a million reasons that my generation is better than yours. Thanks to the internet, we have niches and uniqueness and alternative cultures that other generations can never really replicate. Sure, Millennials have their nihilism and avocados, but we, as a group of people, have an uncopiable way of life.

Generation Z are all connected with the same humour, the same experiences and the same stereotypes. We all watch the same YouTubers and Netflix shows, yet find our own passions to explore. We all grew up with the same mould as each other but are all brilliantly different people. We make fun of ourselves and always see the jest in it, but you can’t.

Not only are we a charmingly hilarious generation, but we can also bring ourselves together and think seriously. Just last month there was a massive protest against climate change all across the EU. It wasn’t Millennials this time, no. Instead, it was started by a 15-year-old Swedish student, Greta Thunberg. Did you notice the flood of furious students skipping school to fight for their futures across the world? We did.

We are all, in the end, the writers of our own story. Yet you’ve thrown the notebook into the sea and stamped on it an uncountable number of times.

Maybe we will all turn into Jeremy in the end. But for now, let us have our moment of rebellion.