Is Generation Z “Lazy?”

Walking into any cafe will guarantee the sight of at least one teenager on their phone or laptop. The teenager is classified as part of Generation Z, known for its lazy and unproductive traits. Out of all of the generations, Generation Z is known as the most apathetic and unaware, all while having the shortest attention span by far. However, is Generation Z truly as many call it, Generation “Lay-Z?”

L.P. from the Northern Valley Old Tappan High School admits to JSR, “Yeah, I think that a lot of us are guilty of that title. I’m definitely not as productive as I should be, partly because of Instagram and stuff. But there are ways that I use technology for my academic benefit, like Khan Academy videos for subjects I’m confused in. I also go on Facebook for help if I really can’t figure out a problem from homework.”

Older people generally come to a consensus that teenagers waste their time on social media yet complain about their workload from school. However, that is not always the case. Tom Lehman, Co-founder and CEO of Genius, has stated, “In the past 20 years, we have discovered over 98% of what we know today.” Through major advancements in today’s technology, humans have discovered so much information that covers different types of topics to the last detail. The academic topics of the past are vastly different from today’s topics, considering that we have so much more information available to us at this time. Generation Z has much more to think about and learn about than its parents have.

And so, teenagers end up using their phones and laptops to access this knowledge for their education. With the development of online resources, many students utilize those resources to better their understanding of a subject more complex than it was 20 years ago. Yet still, older generations see the use of electronic devices purely as a lazy pastime.

Of course, it is a definite that teenagers waste their time on social media websites and spend time on unproductive sites and apps. However, it is important to consider that Generation Z utilizes online resources for its’ academic benefits as well. Older generations choose to completely ignore the latter and rant on and on about Generation Z’s apathetic outlook on life.

The final verdict is that Generation Z lives a different kind of life than older generations do. Gen Z has grown up with technology, and members of Gen Z depend on it for social, academic, and yes, lazy uses. Just because a teenager might not live the same type of life with the same type of social interactions and the same type of academic habits as an older person has, it does not necessarily mean that the teenager is being “lazy.” There is a whole world inside of technology, and we as Generation Z are simply taking the advantage of using that world.