I am part of generation z, born in 1998, and living in a complicated world. Born between 1994 and 2010 we, Generation Z, represent 23 million Americans.
Growing up I have noticed the drastic difference between the world my parent's grew up in and the world I was growing up in. 1998 or 2000 was the end of many great things like loony tunes, and Rugrats, but most importantly 2000 was a change in how we grew up. What children witnessed, what we heard, what we grew up remembering.
Shortly after 1998 in 2001, when I was only three years old, my parents rushed to my daycare to pick me up. Schools, work places, and other establishments closed their doors and watched in complete agonizing terror has the twin towers burned to the ground. 2,996 people were killed and the number still rises.
I grew up playing outside, but slowly transitioned into playing on iPods and cell phones. I do not know a world without the internet. I can't recall a world where we didn't have computers or cell phones. My only "old school struggle" was dealing with the dial up internet.
I also watched as the economy crashed into the Great Recession, and parents begin to lose jobs, and get cut back at work. I watched the first African American to ever be elected as president, and am now I'm watching as women begin running for president as well.
I watched as, what I thought was a safe world, turn into an unsafe world. I watched Baltimore riot up against police, and among them many other states and cities joined. By high school I watched skin color become a sensitive matter. I watched as people argued over murders because of the color of someones skin. We were told not discuss these things because we don't want to offend anybody.
Among these events I watched Paris, Brussels, London, more and more cities being attacked by ISIS. I've watched as the news broadcasts talked about hostages and threats. I watched as my fellow classmates and I were locked in our classrooms for up to four hours, because of bomb threats to our school. I watched guns become a sensitive subject, gender, sexuality, religion, and economic status; become a sensitive subject.I became more aware that religion was "frowned" upon in classrooms, so we never talked about it. I watched social media and news broadcasts talk about Christians being beheaded for their religion choices.
I watched a war go on, on another country's soil, but our men and women were still fighting to save us- America. I witnessed Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twittter posts of young people stepping on the American Flag. I've watched classmates not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, but rather sit down, and that was "okay." I've witnessed drug abuse rise in my own town. I've witnessed gas prices as high as almost four dollars, but I've never witnessed gas prices at one dollar, like my parents could recall. I've lived through one, two, three, five? "End of the World" days. I've heard to much on the news, but not enough to feel as though we were 100% safe.
I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot. Generation Z's oldest memebers are just now graduating college, and the youngest memebers are only six years old. What do you remember from your childhood? Was it war, terrorists and learning not to offend people?
