Generation Z: So indulged, so coddled, so over-protected...

IT’S the lifestyle, stupid.

Down here in the rank and file, at the coalface, in the trenches, there’s no great surprise about the figures showing a massive rise in the number of younger adults self-reporting emotional and psychological ill-health.

Maybe the reason is just so glaringly obvious that we can’t see it. And maybe because we don’t see it, we’re sitting there not doing anything about the fact that the number of people self-reporting emotional and psychological conditions has doubled in the past six years and almost tripled since 2011.

The biggest identified category here is young people in their twenties. The problems, which, according to those who know about such things, seem to be at the root of the figures issued by the Central Statistics Office include difficulty coping with life, problems with self-esteem, anxiety, a lack of sense of direction and a lack of resilience.

The biggest demographic exhibiting these problems is people aged 20-29, whom you might know as Generation Z. Let’s be fair, this is not all 20- to 29-year-olds, not by a long shot, but it is this category which stands out, and it is being increasingly recognised that many people in this age group have been so indulged, so coddled and so over-protected that they’ve never learned the skills to deal with the real world.

There is, alas, often an outrageous sense of entitlement to be seen at work here and - let’s face it - a fair number of them can be excessively critical, dismissive, impatient, arrogant and at times (especially when things don’t go their way) plain nasty to deal with. 

They believe their personal and human rights reign supreme. And why wouldn’t they.

As somebody somewhere put it, many in this age group have been reared like retired millionaires; indulged, deferred to and driven around by eager-to-please, even submissive, parents who unwittingly turn them little emperors, rearing them to expect automatic respect and deference from others as a sort of right, while at the same time feeling no obligation to display respect or deference themselves. There is little respect for authority, because they have been taught that Mammy and Daddy will defend them to the death and never allow anybody to take them on.

As many teachers will tell you, there is a category of parents now who will, in a heartbeat, march furiously up to the primary or secondary school, to berate staff for the mildest or most justified criticism, or for the imposition of any penalty for misbehavior, because this “upsets” their child.

Ironically, many of our ultra-sensitive young adults have grown up casually inflicting their own negative opinions and criticisms on others, often anonymously, from behind the protective screen of social media, and with zero expectation of accountability for their actions.

And, as somebody pointed out to me during an interesting conversation on this very topic, this behaviour on social media can translate very strongly into real life – the result being stinging verbal attacks on others, lightning flashes of temper and defensiveness, snide remarks and angry criticism without any real justification or any understanding of the damage that results.

Too many of our young people are growing up in the society of “I” – they are oblivious of their responsibility to the needs or rights of others. 

They are so coddled and entitled that they entertain no doubts about their own behaviour towards others or, indeed, of their responsibility to treat others with compassion and respect.

Too many don’t read newspapers or books, all of which are a fantastic way of learning about the world and about other human beings.

Too many families now provide, not books, newspapers or comics to their offspring, but devices which entertain and distract children and young people, train their brains to the expectation of instant gratification, and eliminate real opportunities for self-sufficiency, reflection or any real connection with the people in their lives.

Play therapists have spoken of the smallest children reporting a sense of overwhelming loneliness. Parents and siblings don’t talk to them, play with them, or tell them the names of things in the world - trees, flowers, birds, clouds, insects - because they’re too busy with their phones.

Many small children are literally frightened of the real world because, as one therapist explained to me, they see extremely scary things on the phones that are handed to them at an age when they aren’t able to discriminate between the virtual world and the real world outside their home. 

Some of them literally believe that terrible monsters from online games roam the real world.

Third-level staff will tell you - sotto voce - about the truly staggering lack of self-sufficiency, resilience and independence they are witnessing in many first-year students. They will talk of mammies who will, on a single phone call from their offspring, drive from another county to march up to a lecturer’s office and demand that a young adult’s grades be improved.

Look. We are bringing up too many of our children in a way that has little real connection with the real world or with other people. As a result, half the time this lot can’t even make eye contact or small talk, or find a summer job on their own. They have never had to get out there and paddle.

The traditional goals of previous generations – education, good job, marriage, home and children - are no longer relevant to many young adults today, which contributes to the reported sense of drift and lack of direction. They don’t have to grow up.

So, yes, they are reporting that they feel anxious, insecure, have difficulty coping and experience low self-esteem and a lack of drive.

Because, perhaps, they have stepped from the life of the retired millionaire into the real world where, to put it bluntly, they’re expected to act like grown-ups.