By Kristine Pascual, March 5, 2024
“I think I want to die but even that takes too much work. There is no joy, no love, no happiness, only the fruits of your work. I’m done working, I don’t want to be happy or loved, I want to rest.”
This is the first and last line of a note found in the university library and posted to Reddit Feb. 28. The comments on the thread expressed worry for the individual but more so found the note to be relatable, replying with “same” or “real” with one Redditor responding with “I feel this, engineering is pain.”
In comparison to older generations, Generation Z appears comfortable with discussing death. Oftentimes, Gen Z will even use humor to cope with death on TikTok, Twitter or Instagram. According to a study with data collected from Aura, the topic of death has desensitized Gen Z because they understand the inevitability of it. The discussion of death was once taboo, and to some elder generations it still is, but for Gen Z, death is as common a topic as any.
Only a small portion of older Gen Z (1997-2013) grew up without advanced technology like smart phones and constant social media usage. Today lives are plagued with social media on top of the presence of Artificial Intelligence. Gen Z has been through quite a bit including many natural disasters like wildfires, flash floods and earthquakes, while also experiencing a global pandemic where millions died. According to the Gun Violence Archive there have been more than 60 mass shootings in the United States this year, leaving 100 people dead and 200 injured. Students are having to practice active shooter drills which puts the possibility of death on the table.
Psychology professor Laura Zettel-Watson at California State University, Fullerton noted that Gen Z is the most tech savvy generation. In recent years, Gen Z has been consumed with social media usage and exposure to worldly events like COVID-19, mass shootings and the war in Gaza. Zettel-Watson points out that Gen Z is “slower in development” compared to past generations due to overprotectiveness from their parents.
“I think this generation has an opportunity to experience things virtually before they experience things for real, where previous generations didn’t experience things like death and war and those kinds of things unless it happened to them,” Zettel-Watson said. “It makes (Gen Z) aware of things at an earlier age, but it also allows them to process in a more detached sense.”
According to Pew Research Center, Gen Z was born into a strong economy with a record-low unemployment in comparison to millennials who were born into recession. Gen Z is aware of the difficulties of securing a job post college knowing their future is uncertain. Nowadays, employers are looking for prospects to be more than qualified to even be considered for a job. With the amount of Gen Z children enrolled in college, experiencing stress is common.
Between the stress that worsens mental health issues for Gen Z, and the constant influence of technology and social media, individuals are exposed to unique circumstance that previous generations had not gone through before.
“Unfortunately, our young generations now are having to process deaths that they shouldn’t have to process like peers who died by suicide or victims of violence,” Zettel-Watson said. “Gen Z is seeing more of this than any generation before has ever seen.”
Music education student Jesse Ortiz is at peace with the concept of death. Having lost three family members within the same year, Ortiz is comfortable with the inevitability of death.
“I just see death as something that’s going to happen whether we like it or not,” Ortiz said. “It’s something that unfortunately we cannot control, and it doesn’t scare me per say but rather makes me mindful about life while we still have it.”
For Ortiz and his family, they celebrate Día de Los Muertos honoring the dead with photos, favorite foods and drinks. They commemorate loved ones it’s like a family reunion between the living and the dead.
“We just celebrate their life and celebrate their memory instead of being sad,” Ortiz said. “Death is really hard for us at first. But as time goes on, we learn to live with it and learn to accept the fact that they’re gone, but their memory will never be gone, and we will always love them, even though they’ve passed on from this life.”
For mechanical engineering student Kristopher Van Duyn, death is normal. Though he does not think about the matter too often, he is at peace and less afraid of it.
“I’m quite used to death,” Van Duyn said. “I mean, it’s very normal cause I’ve grown up hunting, I’ve grown up fishing, I’ve grown up doing some of that stuff where I’m quite used to seeing things die. You just have to have respect for it.”
Van Duyn was baptized Catholic but no longer practices, identifying as agnostic. Some of his more religious family members find that speaking on the matter of death as taboo but for Van Duyn, it’s a topic to really think about. After almost dying twice, once in a shooting range accident and once at work, Van Duyn’s thoughts on death shifted.
“I used to be a lot more scared of death before those experiences,” Van Duyn said. “I don’t fear death anymore.”
Though death is a constant presence these days from news headlines to entertainment forums, Gen Z’s awareness is a positive way to perceive death.
“Death gives meaning to life,” Van Duyn said. “But it’s up to the person to determine what that meaning is.”
Feature image courtesy of Aron Visuals