Surely, you had a friend or it could even have been you, who in your adolescence made countless plans (most of them fictitious), so that your parents would let you go to a friend’s house to “watch movies”. However, what you were doing was running away, perhaps to a discotheque or some other plan not suitable for minors. Now, things have changed, for example, generation Z (born from 1997 onwards) prefer to lie, not to their parents, but to their friends so that they can spend whole days at home.
Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, several studies have shown that Generation Z is partying less. And according to a 2018 survey by Berenberg Research, alcohol consumption has also declined for these new generations. Only 30.2% of young people between the ages of 17 and 18 say they consume this type of beverage, compared to the data provided by the Pew Research Center, which stated that 54% of young people consumed them in 1991. We can observe a great change in lifestyles and consumption habits from one generation to the next.
Generation Z, their lifestyle has an explanation: social networks and technology
In addition to low alcohol consumption, Generation Z prefers not to drive and have less sex compared to previous generations at the same age. This is according to a study conducted by the University of San Diego and the Bryan Mawe Collegewhich concludes that the reason for these young people preferring to spend so much time at home is nothing more and nothing less than being immersed in social networks and new technologies.
For her part, Mercedes Bermejo, child and family psychologist, and member of the Official College of Psychologists of Madrid (COPM), says that immersing oneself so much in technology is causing that:
“Young people are failing to develop the emotional competencies to relate to others. For example, if they are sad they don’t communicate it, they simply use an emoji that represents that feeling.”
According to Bermejo, Generation Z suffers from what is known as hikkomori, a Japanese word for young people who do not engage in any physical activity and isolate themselves, i.e. they stop seeing their friends and even drop out of high school. For example, in Spain alone, some 200 cases have been reported of young people with a tendency to isolation, which brings with it serious mental health problems.
Finally, Bermejo adds that the community and the family are key to detecting the problem:
“When they see their children spending more time in the virtual world than in real life, when they enjoy normal relationships less, and when they begin to have hostile responses or neglect their hygiene.”
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