On May 25th, 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin murdered black citizen George Floyd. Floyd’s official cause for death was asphyxiation due to Chauvin’s knee on his neck for nearly ten minutes.The event sparked nationwide demonstrations protesting centuries of systemic racism and biased policing. 

Black Lives Matter (BLM) , a global movement whose purpose is racial equality worldwide, made history due to such protests being created and planned almost exclusively via social media.

In a survey done by Business Insider, out of 38,919 Americans aged 13-25, nearly 78 percent of Generation Z participated in social media-based activism. In the same survey, 90 percent of surveyors said they support the Black Lives Matter movement.

BLM changed the face of American history, produced a Nobel Peace Prize 

nomination, and shifted many Gen-Z’s opinions on institutions and racism. More than ever before, Gen-Z was drawn into politics and inspired to bring change.

On January 18th 2020, the CDC recorded the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, found in Washington state. Now, two years later, the United States has seen over 850,000 COVID-related deaths, with the numbers still climbing. In the span of two years, this amounts to two deaths every two and a half minutes—and that’s just in the United States. This monumental loss has been devastating and hard to comprehend. 

It’s near impossible to say what the lasting effects will be, or when the pandemic will even end, but it’s clear that there was and will be monumental changes.

Gen-Z was especially impacted, since most of this generation is still enrolled in school. Due to this online environment, Gen-Z reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, difficulty making and maintaining friends, and numerous academic problems.

According to Dr. Croa Breuner, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s hospital, children and teen’s brain development necessary for the growth of “complex mental skills needed to native daily life” has been limited (CNBC).  Due to isolation, environments like schools that would normally teach decision-making and coping skills have left Gen-Z behind.

Although the oldest Gen-Z members would be about three when two highschoolers shot fifteen people in Columbine High School, the results of the tragedy would forever impact the climate of safety in our schools.

Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, there have been over 304 school shootings (as of August 9th, 2021). No matter what school they attended,  most American teenagers have been victims of school shooting threats.

To combat school shootings, lockdown drills were created, police-presence was increased; children learned the best places to hide, and the importance of fight or flight. 

For many, it’s not enough. Following the tragic death of seventeen students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, thousands of students nationwide participated in the “March for Our Lives”. This demonstration meant walking out of school, even under threat of suspension or punishment, and protesting for increased gun control laws and actual legislative change.

Organized by high schoolers, the protest showcased Gen-Z’s resourcefulness and predicted their tenacity and unrelenting will in the fight for change. 

These events have created a generation of action. Protests over gun control, racism, women’s rights, and global warming have been led by Gen-Z in response to the injustices they see around them.

We can thank social media for the existence of these youth-led movements in the first place, as many of these events have been amplified by the Internet and shared these messages to those who might never have gotten the chance to through traditional news platforms. 

Although we don’t know what will happen in the next few decades, it’s clear Gen-Z will not be sitting silently through it. 

Death of Harambe:

Although tragic, the death of Harambe the gorilla can be credited to the birth of meme culture. The joke “RIP Harambe” created an “in the know” internet culture, with new and creative jokes being based on one format.

Avengers Endgame

21 movies came together into one revolutionary superhero franchise that spanned most of Gen-Z’s developmental years. The Marvel franchise popularized staying for the movie credits and created a healthy fear of spoilers.

Vine’s death:

Even now, Vines can be heard being quoted almost anywhere. We can all thank Vine for the birth of Tik Tok (and short attention spans).

Sources:

https://www.security.org/blog/a-timeline-of-school-shootings-since-columbine/

https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/columbine-high-school-shootings

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/us/march-for-our-lives/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/health/cdc-coronavirus.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/world-map-coronavirus-deaths-country-covid-19-n1170211

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-gen-z-feels-about-george-floyd-protests-2020-6

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/06/pandemic-stress-weighs-heavily-on-gen-z-according-to-a-new-poll.html