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Hilbert's avatar

The guns are a very important issue for Gen Z. I have three Gen Z kids and they have been hiding under their desks their entire school life. My daughter actually has anxiety about being part of a mass shooting.

I'm a strong believer that this Gen Z generation isn't going to sit it out like their Gen X parents.

They realize the parties are very different and are afraid of their future. These kids have lived through a lot of chaos in their short lives and they're pissed off about it.

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knowltok's avatar

Maybe instead of letting the generation get labeled Zoomers, Gen Z, or Gen Covid, they should grab the name: School Shooting Generation.

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Hilbert's avatar

I've heard it referred to as the columbine generation

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suzc's avatar

In the 50s, we had drills where we hid under our desks when a nuclear bomb was dropped on us by Russia. Seriously. Nonsense but still anxiety-causing. Fear of nuclear war. And NOTHING like making kindergartners hide in closets from the maniac with an AK47!!! It is heart breaking. (I would be home schooling and that in itself is sad commentary on our "neighbors" and communities.)

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Kathe Rich's avatar

I am one of that generation. I did not think I would live to see 30, and it had a sadly profound effect on my life choices.

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suzc's avatar

It had to have. Just as the 60s had on mine. We are all to some degree products of our experiences, especially those of childhood, as well as our genes.

Then I remember Viktor Frankl and " man's search for meaning". And the rather stunning Ukrainian people. And realize its possible to "overcome." Maybe to use it all in some useful way. MLK knew it too.

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eah's avatar

"I have three Gen Z kids and they have been hiding under their desks their entire school lives." In the context of Columbine, Sandy Hook (and the awfulness of Alex Jones), Parkland, and Uvalade, and nothing being done to even attempt to prevent another school slaughter, that sentence made me tear up.

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Hilbert's avatar

When Sandy Hook happened we had kids that age. When nothing happened after that it was soul crushing.

I'm telling you these kids have lived through a ton of bullshit and the adult leaders doing nothing. They're pissed and motivated.

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suzc's avatar

Pissed and motivated is good. But my heart aches at the damage done to their psyches and hearts from all they have lived through in their young lives. Today we call it PTSD, I guess. And I do not see how they do not all suffer from that.

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Hilbert's avatar

Add onto the school shootings, Covid, worries about the environment, political riots, and growing up being judged on social media these kids have been through a lot.

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