Politics: What Can We Expect From Generation Z?

Political Essay: Generation Z Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z are words that we often hear being used a lot in discussions yet to some who are not very much knowledgeable of these things will think that they are one and the same. They are not. These words represent people of different ages. To be able to define them we need to understand first that the word “Generation” is biologically defined as the average period of time between the birth of the children and their parents (“Generation”). McCrindle, on the other hand, had given a sociological definition which says that generation refers to a group of people that have the same period of birth, molded by the same times and motivated by the same social markers (McCrindle). Generation X is therefore identified as the generation who were already young adults before the September 11 attack in 2001 (McCrindle). Generation Y is then the young adults that face the crisis of the aftermath of the September 11 attack (McCrindle). Generation Z, which is the focus of this essay is the generation who had been born in the mid-1990s and later in which Canadian Statistics says that the first of this generations are people who had been born in 1993 (White). These group of people had two recognizable features. First, according to McCrindle, they were born where there is a crisis on terrorism, and the world had undergone recession and climate change. Second, Geck also describes them as the generation whose birth came along with the birth of the World Wide Web. Their world is already the digital world because they grew up enjoying access to hi-tech devices such as laptop and smartphones (Geck). With this kind of world, they live in, what can we expect of this generation? What are their values and priorities in a political aspect? Lastly, what impact would they have on the Canadian Political scene? The Generation Z is a generation that is resilient, have fairly good work and moral values that will have a definitive impact in the Canadian Political Scene. Resilience is defined as the capacity to adjust to change or misfortune (“Resilience”). The Generation Z have this kind of character because they were born or have lived in an environment that required them to be tough despite the odds. As discussed earlier they have lived through the 9/11 attacks as well as the other attacks in different parts of the world after that. They have also lived through the global recession and is currently relishing the recovery. Yet despite these environments, they are persistent to make it better. They are more compassionate as they are involved in caring for the world they lived. Thus, they are involved in social media and actual campaigns such as undertaking the problem for gun control in the US. Some also expand their social activism to issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. As per the statistics stated by Loehr in her HuffPost article, 75% of this Generation agrees in same-sex marriages as they might not see this unusual for they could have grown up having same-sex parents themselves. It also made sense when 76% of them are concerned in global warning since they have experienced or have seen catastrophic environmental disasters in their time (Loehr). They also campaign on digital privacy, hea...