The year 2020 was a whirlwind of experiences for everyone but for Gen-Z it opened many opportunities to step into their roles as the future generation. Within the last year, we have seen Gen-Z more active in the community and standing up for what they believe in. Between the presidential elections and many protests that took place throughout the year, Gen-Z took it very well. They shared with each other what they believed in and understood each other’s differences. So what makes Gen-Z different from all the other generations. 

To gain more perspective, a millennial, Stephanie Erazo, shared her thoughts on how our generations differ. 

“I find your generation more accepting, I feel that your generation is definitely more tolerating of other people’s beliefs and views and you are all willing to problem solve with each other as opposed to being conflictive,” Erazo said “I find that there are a lot of differences and it gives a lot of hope for the future.” 

Erazo explained that compared to her generation time has changed a lot, it has given younger people more insight into what is going on with the world which gives people hope for the future years to come. As a millennial herself, Erazo proved that time has a big influence on situations and people.

Erazo shared what she wished her generation would have known when they were younger. 

“I feel like my generation was very naive, we never paid attention to politics, we didn’t pay a lot of attention to what was going on in the world, it was something that adults handled. I think that your generation is more aware of those issues and things that are going on in the world and things that need to be fixed,” She said., “I think that if we paid more attention possibly we could have avoided a lot of situations.”

The next point of view came from Isabella Lanier, a 15-year-old student who is part of Gen-Z. Her perspective was important to get an understanding of someone who is part of gen-z. The first thing discussed was the differences Lanier noticed between her generation and previous generations. 

“The main difference that I have noticed is that the earlier generations are less accepting of new concepts or ideas or people in general. For example, people with different gender identities,” Lanier said “Even earlier on people would make harsh comments about different races or ‘jokes’ that were disregarded. But I think now it’s a lot different because people were able to recognize how wrong things like that are and now people are recognizing how they need to be educated and how to become more politically aware. ”

Lanier shared how thinks that Gen-Z is making a difference slowly and persuading other generations to be accepting of other people and their beliefs. She believes that now people are recognizing the wrong that happened in the past and now are able to learn from it and become better people which will eventually make the world a better place. 

Lanier also shared what she believes has been the most positive change Gen-Z has had on society, something that should have changed sooner. 

“I wish people would specifically recognize the impact of their ‘jokes’. I believe that some ‘jokes’ are very insensitive and not only racially but for other reasons as well,” Lanier said. 

Lanier was able to share what she thought Gen-Z was doing right and what other generations seemed to pass by. She shared some of her beliefs and hopes that Gen-Z is still able to make a big difference in the future to come. 

All generations have definitely learned a lot this past year and new generations will continue to make a difference for the better. Older generations are able to provide new ones with experience and knowledge while new generations are able to change and make the world a better place for everyone. Gen-Z took the reins in 2020 and was more politically involved than ever before. But we have all learned together and we will continue to work together to make the world a better place no matter what generation we are.