Listen to Dennis Gaylor’s interview with Eric Treuil from South Central Chi Alpha’s webinar.
Why a Disciple-Making Cultureby Dennis Gaylor / July 19, 2021Related Posts
Pandemic Stress Weighs Heavily on Gen Z
Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Specifically, when it comes to education, friendships, and dating, the disruption has had a pronounced impact among Gen Z.
The survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and MTV Entertainment Group, included ages 13-34 and 46% said the pandemic has made it harder to pursue their education or career goals, compared to other generations. After months of remote schooling and limited social interaction, teens and young adults are reporting higher rates of depression and anxiety.
A similar gap when it came to dating and romantic relationships. Forty-five percent in Gen Z reported more difficulty maintaining good relationships with friends, compared to other generations.
The outsize impact on children and adolescents is partly linked to where they are in brain development. Those periods are when humans see the most growth in executive function–the complex mental skills needed to navigate daily life. Dr. Cora Breuner, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital notes, “It’s a perfect storm where you have isolated learning, decreased social interaction with peers, and parents who also are struggling with similar issues. . . .Young people are falling behind in school, and behind in skills needed to cope with stress and make decisions.”
Condensed from “Poll: Pandemic Stress Has Weighed on Gen Z,” The Springfield News Leader, Nation and the World, Tuesday, December 7, 2021, by Collin Binkley and Hannah Fingerhut
Back to Normal, I Don’t Think So
According to the Springtide Research Institute, which surveyed 2,500 members of Generation Z (ages 15 to 25) in February 2021, the report warns religious leaders, teachers, and parents there isn’t going to be a simple “back to normal” approach for young people after COVID 19 pandemic. Rather we should all be looking for ways to help them experience “the new normal.” Josh Packard, the executive director of Springtide says, “It is not going to be easy for young people to pick up where they left off. There’s a whole lot of things they missed, and they need help processing that, to make sense of it and understanding their lives.”
He listed the missed things: graduations, proms, summer camps, athletic competition, dates, college orientations, religious youth group retreats, school concerts, first jobs, and suggested we can help young people grieve lost milestones and relationships.
“Gen Z lost touch with faith communities during pandemic but kept their faith, study says” by Jana Reiss, Religion News Service, May 31, 2021
2 Comments
This is great! Thanks for sharing Dennis.
This is a great conversation between two great men. Dennis, thank you for everything you have done for campus ministry and for writing the history of Chi Alpha!