For years, there is always the argument and comments that your parents will make towards you that their generation was harder than yours now. 

The line “ back in the day I had to do etc…”  As a Gen Z myself you will always hear that from the millennials that came before us.  But is there an argument to this?  Did the millennials really have it harder than the Gen Z now?  Or is that just an assumption?  The more you think about this the more you realize that it is more about your own opinion on what you think is hard or not.  

Essentially, Generation Z is considered to be born between 1997 and 2015. Millenials are essentially born in 1980 to 1996. 

 According to multiple studies released by Pew Research Center, 71 percent of Gen Z feel that if you want something done right, then do it yourself.  Gen Z definitely attracts more to the independent side of things when it comes to just everyday problems in life.  But if you were to ask a millennial if they’d rather work in a group to get something done, the answer would be a resounding yes.

Parents that were Gen Z grew up having to do most things alone in life because there were just not as many resources as there are now for the millennials, which you cannot really blame the millennials for feeling this way as they grew up and spent every day of their life having an outlet that literally answers anything they want at any time of the day.  

A member of the Mercy College faculty that is a part of Gen Z stated, “ There were just so many times where you were out and had to figure out even just something as simple as not knowing what time it was.  You could not just go on your cell phone and check when I was growing up.  You would have to find a store that had a clock, or just be home by the time the lights went out.  But you can’t blame the new generation for wanting more help with things because they do not have to figure out as much as we do, and that is just how we all evolve as humans and people.”  

But when you flip this argument around, Gen Z has a lot of pressure on them when it comes to technology and helping out the older generations with it.  Gen Z grew up on iPads and iPhones and the millennials did not.  There are more than enough situations where Gen Z has to help the older generations with their phones or just technology in general. 

Over 65 percent of Gen Z feel that they are expected more out of them than the millennials were, because of how many resources are at their fingertips.  There is not any excuse anyone could make for not knowing something or not knowing how to do something in today’s day and age because of everything we have. 

Sophomore at Mercy College Genesis Varga on being asked about if Gen Z is expected more, said “I do feel that we are expected to know more than our past generations because they think we have it easier.  When in reality, both generations have had struggles that delay them in their very own unique ways.  If it was so easy to do anything we want just because we have more than our past generations, everyone would be great at everything.  And even that would cause their own problems in our generation.”

The generations that precede us now are going to have to hear the exact same things that the generation hears now and that is why this argument will never end.  Even when you go back before the millennials, I bet that their parents said the same thing to them growing up about how they had it harder and that they cannot make excuses while growing up. 

Each person no matter what generation they are in is going to face problems that would occur whether they were born 50 years before or after. 

And as parents, these kids that heard “ Back in my day” while they were growing up, should try their best to end that line and make sure their kids know it is okay to speak out about the problems they shall go through if there are any.