Is Gen Z Ready?

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to Educational Warfare. I'm Dr. Jordan Lauer with my partner Dr. Ryan Jackson.

(00:17):
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(01:55):
authenticity. We're located here in Spring Hill, Tennessee. So we're Tennesseans. I mean,
we are getting down in the city of Spring Hill right now. We are located at Cadets,
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(02:20):
live from Cadets, Toys and Comics in Spring Hill. You can tell, dude, I'm excited. I could
not be more excited. Me too. This is kind of a playground for me. I'm going to try not
to be too distracted by looking around at all the awesome comics I want to buy. Yeah,
it's just good energy. Right. You know, you're in this creative space with all this really
cool energy and these cool characters. Surrounded by beautiful art, beautiful characters. I'm
a little worried about where my bank account might be and hanging out near too much, but

(02:42):
we'll go to that later. Nostalgia. Right. But today we're covering a topic that fills
our homes, that fills our schools, fills our workplaces. Something our world would be a
lot better if we all understood a little deeper. And that is Gen Z. Yeah, to me, man, no more
important topic right now. Whether it's education, whether it's industry, whether it's humanity,

(03:04):
technology. If you are not talking about Generation Z, who they are, what they want, what they're
capable of, what they don't want. I mean, that to me is the most pertinent threshold
conversation. Who is Gen Z? What are they doing? Where are they going? That's what we're
digging in today. Could not be more exciting. You know, we're both educators. So Gen Z right

(03:29):
now is really our world. And we'll kind of dig into that specifically. But yeah, we're
talking Gen Z today. Man, lead us into it, baby. Let's go, Dr. J. Yeah, they're just
a part of our everyday lives, part of all of our lives. Like I said, they're in our
hallways, our homes, our workplaces. You know, so let's right now let's go into let's cover
who is Gen Z. Who are they, man? All right, so Generation Z is anyone born after 1996.

(03:55):
Their age range are currently 12 to 27 years old. And they are a large generation with
73 million strong. That's a lot. It is a lot. So it's not just this tiny little bubble of
our society. They are a large freight train of a generation moving within our society.
Got some got some reflections of baby boomers. They're just a big, large cohort, chocked

(04:18):
full of people. And you said not only 75 million strong, but that's ages 12 to 27. Right. So
current Gen Z generation is 12 to 27. And you said born after 96. So immediately, you
know, my brain is going to these bookends. Right. You know, I'm a movie guy. I love film,
you know, film buff, film lover, former film producer, just love that world. So sometimes

(04:42):
I think in terms of movies when they came out and how that kind of catalogs our life
a little bit. So when I'm thinking of Gen Z, that's ages 12 to 27, born after 96. That's
going to frame it up for us, right? With a generation that has film bookends of Titanic
when they're born. Right. So Gen Z now enters the world. What's the biggest movie at that

(05:07):
time to start their generational cohort? Titanic epic story of a ship that hits an iceberg
and crashes. Historical. We'll get into that. I'm the king of the world, baby. The end of
that generation, right? What cuts off their cohort. So the end of that book in the hunger
games, battle royale, killer be killed. I mean, the mindset behind that. So massive ship hits

(05:31):
an iceberg. Historical significance, battle royale, killer be killed, big brother. We're
going to dive into that. That's the bookends for that generational cohort. I just love
how that's framed up, man. What do you think on that? I think that's great. I think it's
perfect. You know, like you think of Titanic and you're thinking of this generation. So
I'm with you, right? My whole life, I can literally in my mind, I go throughout the

(05:54):
years of my life, probably by the movies that affected me. I think, oh, 96, boom, the movies
are what popped my head. That's about it. So you think of Titanic and you're thinking
about Gen Z, you know, and why are these the bookends? Why is that such a perfect thing?
You know, you think of Rose, right? Rose, the main character, is young, but she's from
money and her her world, you know, society, she's a part of expect certain things for

(06:19):
her. She needs to marry somebody who can help out the family, who's part of that money.
And she doesn't want to. She gets on this ship. She's in that she has this fiance. She's
kind of like, yeah, he's cute. I mean, it's Billy Zane. So you know, so she's like, he's
cute, but not a huge fan. And she wants she meets Jack, who's played by Leonardo Caprio,
and she wants that adventurous life. But she's pushing against the expectations are. And

(06:44):
that's what Gen Z is kind of doing. They're trying to remold this whole thing. We're like,
no, you do it this way. All right, but let me push you there. Yeah. All right. And it's
been a little while since I've watched Titanic admittedly. Okay. But I do remember it was
on VHS, man. I bet what was to to to cassette. So in Titanic, though, isn't Rose a bit of
an unreliable narrator? I bet she is. I mean, she's she she doesn't know what she wants

(07:07):
either. And I think that's a big part of it. When I say that they shoot Gen Z wants to
do it a certain way. Just like her. They're not exactly sure what they want yet. You know,
they're not there's not a clear plan. They just don't want the plan we've laid in. Yes.
Because to they're not here for oppression, man. We're not here to be have something put
upon us. Right. And you know, and she wants they she wants adventure. She wants novelty.

(07:31):
How much do we talk about that with our young people? You know, Jack from the low he's from
the lower class, but she actually loves him, which is different than the, you know, romantic
expectations of her time of, hey, you may not love this guy, but he's best for the family.
And we're talking about some of those even romantic, like, expectations of society for
them as well. And so she she is kind of unreliable because she doesn't really know what she wants.

(07:55):
She's figuring out as she goes. But to her, she, you know, not to have a pun here, she's
driving the ship. And that is what straight into that iceberg. I hope she sees it earlier.
That's ominous. Right. But, you know, and just like that. But and then affecting it.
So they want to mold their own life, not exactly sure where they're going, but don't want to
follow the plan we've laid out. But just like and I love how we're keeping this on this

(08:19):
thread as as if Rose were Gen Z like personified, you know, this idea that, hey, we're not going
to have these old values put on us as an expectation. We're also not going to be comfortable with
this idea of security, with this idea of, you know, wealth, even if it comes at the

(08:45):
cost of our joy, our novelty, our ability to explore, see the world, do something different.
So we're going to reject your standards. And more importantly, we're going to reject the
security and the comfort that comes with those standards. Right. If it is at the expense of our

(09:05):
ability to explore, to find joy, to get this novelty that's been kind of lacking in worlds
like Rose's and that story. Right. So let's talk about the flip side of that coin then,
because you go from, you know, we're going to deny the security, the safety, this wealth,
you know, to go after this, this exploration, this joy, that this life of novelty in the back end of

(09:28):
the hat is this Orwellian kind of battle royale killer be killed, right? Man, you know, hunger
game set up that ends that generation. So we start with this kind of philosophy of we want to be
different. We reject old standards. You're not going to put these things on us. We'll take

(09:50):
uncertainty. You know, it's a spice of life, variety uncertainty. We'll take that uncertainty,
but it culminates in the hunger games, dude. That's the end of that generational cohort in
terms of movies, hunger games, battle royale killer be killed. Come on, give me your analysis
on that, dude. Well, it's and you when you frame it this way. So the Titanic, right, is from their

(10:10):
viewpoint of what they want for life. Think of the hunger games. It's almost from their viewpoint
of what society is like. So Titanic's perfect of like, I want my own, this word will come up,
authenticity. Like I'm willing to, if I'm living an authentic life, even though it's not what you,
the powers that be want for me, I'm fine with that. I'll charge my own path. And the hunger games,

(10:32):
the same powers that be set the terms of society. Just what we're talking about. They choke off the
resources available to Gen Z because these are ours. You get this because this is where you're at
where Gen Z is like, no, no. Like if I can get there now, let me have it. You know, I don't need
to be 60 years old and get there. If I'm, if I have the talent right now, I should get a piece

(10:52):
of that pot. And then so, but with that being withheld, they're basically thought of, they have
to fight for that in our society of like, Oh, like I know I'm young, but okay. But I'm a, hold on,
man, I got to interject. I love what you said earlier where, you know, Titanic, this is sort
of philosophical where they see themselves, how they want to be. So very much from the self versus

(11:15):
hunger games, right? This is now society's impact on them. Okay. But you said something in the
middle of that kind of interesting where, you know, authenticity is an anchor for them. It's this pillar,
you know, authenticity. My question for you, as it's going to relate to hunger games, is it
authenticity at the expense of morality? And here's where I'm going with that. Even in Titanic,

(11:40):
I get it, man. She's being oppressed. You know, you referenced Billy Zane. Do, if you'd have not
seen the photos from Billy Zane as Marlon Brando, have you seen this? No, I haven't. Billy Zane
playing Marlon Brando in the biopic. Dude, Google it ASAP. Look at the images of this dude as Marlon
Brando. But anyway, she's in love with Billy Zane. Are they engaged, like to be married or are they

(12:02):
married? I think they're engaged. So they're engaged. She's to be married. You know, whether
we're willing to accept that that's been put on her or not, this is what's happening. Right. So
she's now going to trade this authenticity. I'm going to live my authentic self, even if it means,
you know, at the cost of this sort of moral obligation here. And I know it's you can get to

(12:25):
the nuanced piece of Titanic, but just bring it out to the macro for me. Like, is that mean in
terms of that cohort? Our authenticity is above all and everything else is. Yeah, they're willing
to. I mean, you also think of what she's giving up. It's also the moral obligation, but she's
legit giving up a comfortable future. She's going to live in a manner. You know, she's English,

(12:47):
right? In the movie. So it's the early 1900s. So guaranteed she has a manner, Allah, Downton
Abbey, something like that. She's giving up that she's giving up comfort. She's but what she wants
is authentic, romantic feelings, authentic adventure and the unknown. Like in her head,
you can see her do the calculus of, OK, I will be comfortable, but I'm going to be sitting in this

(13:08):
parlor board the tears. And if I have even a political thought while people are talking,
I'm not supposed to say it because of my status where in Jack's world it doesn't matter. You know,
there's none of the that that hierarchy doesn't really exist that she can kind of be free.
And you know, when you think about that now going back with, you know, Jen's Gen Z and the Hunger
Games, you know, the visual like again fighting for those resources, even though. They're the ones

(13:35):
like in the Hunger Games, who's creating the entertainment? It's the combatants, right? That's
a TV show basically based on them fighting for these resources. But you know what? I'm not going
I'm not going to let Jack off the hook. We're going to go back for a second because, right,
Rose is the unreliable narrator. Rose is the one that's saying, hey, for my authenticity,
I'm willing to cast off my obligations here, my moral responsibility. But then there's Jack.

(13:56):
I mean, how does Jack get on the boat, man? Does he sneak on or is he right?
That doesn't matter. It's criminal. Is it right? Yeah, he's in the third tier.
But you know, we code that as Peter Pan, man, is young, is excited. Right. But really, man,
dude sneaks on the boat, breaks the law, gets on there. Variety is the spice of life, the uncertainty
of it. But it's ultimately to his doom, man. And you bring that all the way back now to,

(14:22):
you know, where it ends with the Hunger Games. And in the connection, the correlation I'm going for
here is this mind state, right? Just this idea, man, that we're going to embrace authenticity and
trade off these moral obligations. And look what it culminates in, in terms of the Hunger Games.
And I just think it's a fascinating way, you know, Jordan, to look at this current cohort,

(14:47):
Generation Z, again, ages 12 to 27, 75 million of them. And what we're really digging into based on
these two films is not only that philosophical mindset that they carry, but also how that has now
intersected with the world and where they find themselves currently in 2024. Right. And then what

(15:09):
with Gen Z too, the visual of Jennifer Lawrence shooting the arrow at President Snow. Right. So
it's basically the old rising up to take on, or sorry, the young rising up to take on the old,
the established power. And you can connect that the real world, you know, not just to be saying
this, to be saying bookends, but there's actual real world proof of this. In the last election,
we had the largest number of Gen Z candidates running and winning house seats because they're 27.

(15:34):
So it's only going to be in the house, right? Where the previous generation, millennials,
you know, my generation did not get involved, right? We kind of thought millennials have this
thing of, oh, I'm not ready yet. I don't have the wealth. I don't have the experience. You know,
I'll, we ran when we're older. Oh, I'm established. I'm a good lawyer. Now I'm 40 something. Maybe I'll
run. I have things I want a little more traditional, right? Gen Z is like, no, no, I want to change

(15:57):
things now. And I'm at the lowest tier I can get in, but I'm here because I want to be a part of
the process. So they are legit as in the hunger game. She takes that from the powers that be from
snow and from the whole organization said, no, no, we're not going to play your game anymore.
We're going to take it from you. Yeah. At least be an active participant, not something that's
funny, man. You know, cause if I'm, I'm, uh, I'm born in 79, so I'm 45 years old, you know,

(16:21):
I'm on that tail end of Gen X and I was raised by a stepfather was born in 1934. So he's considered
part of that kind of silent generation, you know, so I'm raised by this guy that, you know, you
didn't question things. You followed rules, you worked hard, you waited your turn, right? But
through hard work, you know, loyalty, you know, good things will happen. That kind of a mindset,

(16:43):
you know, that's, that's sort of instilled in me, put your head down, pay your dues, put your head
down, do the work. Whereas Gen Z is saying, no, first of all, I'm talented enough. I've got some
skills and I've got this incredible tool and these resources here to amplify what I think I know is
best. So no, I'm going to act on that right now. I'm not going to wait my turn. You know, I'm not

(17:06):
going to be humble necessarily. I'm going to act on what I know. I've got the means to put it out
there to me. That's, that's sort of hunger games, you know, minus the arrow shot at the president.
But that's the mindset, right? That's the attitude they're, they're bringing into it. All right. We
started with those two films, man. Super cool way to frame, you know, that particular cohort, Gen Z

(17:27):
we're talking about ages 12 to 27, you know, and ultimately why is that important, man? Cause it
brings us to that next big question. What do I want, man? What does Gen Z want, dude? What do you
want, Gen Z? I know. What do they want? Let's real quick, let's dive into it just a little bit.
Just a little more who they are just to kind of get a little bit. Cause we have those bookends,

(17:50):
you know, their nickname, the I generation. Right. Okay. Um, interesting thing about this,
we said that they're a large generational group. They are actually the most racially and ethnically
diverse than any other previously generation. The numbers significant, right? And that's,
do you have breakdowns on that? We see that I don't have specific numbers, but we see that the

(18:11):
numbers are way more equalized. You know, there's not this big gap of white than this. It's, it is
spread out. It is multiracial. Uh, and that is, you know, we're as educators, you see that,
that there's these, this confluence of they have different generational things that they all agree
on. It's not so segmented. So is there, is there a generation, the tipping point? I mean, is it only

(18:34):
continues to diversify after that? It should. Yeah. I mean, theoretically at this point, it is,
you know, at this point it's just kind of a ever growing thing. You're not going to stop that
because also because of that, their mindset is starting to not look at ethnicity as much,
you know, they don't see that the same way. And we see that in our classrooms. I see that in the
classroom all the time. You have certain groups and things, but it's just, it's, there is this

(18:58):
general feeling of acceptance more that I, you know, growing up in school didn't really have.
Like if you were a little different in certain terms, like there were, you know, I don't think,
I didn't see anybody getting like openly bullied or anything, but it was more of, hey, people kind
of hung out with this group where now it's just mixed. You see people from all different cliques

(19:18):
and ways of life just there again, we'll go back this term. It probably is going to be a, uh,
you know, a phrase for this authenticity. If they like you as a person, if you're authentic,
you're in, you know, there's none of that. Some of background stuff that used to hang up before. So
I think that's really interesting for them. Yeah. Way more demographically diverse. I mean,
it's gotta be a watershed moment for like certainly the United States, but I'm guess we're

(19:41):
talking just in terms of global population. Yeah. And it's, and it again, it affects them.
It's going to affect the things they do, the way they look at things, seeing numbers skewed all
over the place. They're also on track to be the most well-educated generation ever. You know,
and what could that mean for the future? I mean, think about that, that the most educated, you,
you mentioned it. They got, you know, they have a supercomputer in their pocket. Here's a great scene

(20:03):
from, uh, love the show scrubs talking about like movies and stuff. It's a great scene in the show
scrubs where an older doctor, Dr. Kelso is talking to a girl, you know, scrubs is from the early
2000s. It's a little dated. She's using the blackberry. So for those younger listeners,
don't write blackberry is it was a smartphone. She's using that and he's trying to diagnose her.
And she is literally Googling what he's about to say. So he's like, so you have this and she's

(20:25):
like, yeah, that means this. And he's like, stop. You know, they had this information before. I mean,
we'd lay in the hospital bed and just stare at the doctor, like, tell me what I need to do,
right? Where they can like look stuff up. So they're educated and the college is, I mean,
we get to the point we've even seen that, you know, when we were younger growing up, a bachelor's was
that was the, you, you get any job now, a bachelor's is, you know, just, just buried entry. Just,

(20:48):
right. It's a similar to a social space for us. Yeah. You need that. We're not masters advanced
degrees, but that's changing too. And I think that stopped with that generation. It's another point
to kind of dig in on, but you said they are not only the most demographically diverse, but they
are also the most educated generation in history. Interesting. And they have, you know, just so much

(21:09):
information out there. They can look up, they can get into their studies, uh, almost everything.
And now we just have all this data for them to look into and say, Hey, this is how I feel about
this. Where it's not so much as again, going to our book end ideas where Rose is just supposed
to listen to the older generation. Cause this is how it's done. They have so much information out

(21:30):
there. They can go, no, I'll go find it. I'll go find how I feel about that. Yeah. I hear what
you're saying. You're now my reference point saying this, but I'm going to go look at all this. Yeah.
And see, and you, you had sent something, you know, off, off camera before we started that
things worth mentioning again, it really ties into here. This idea that, you know, they're pioneers
in this, which I found like just a fascinating kind of concept. So Gen Z is pioneers in this new world

(21:55):
and let's kind of qualify new world. So handheld devices, iPhone specifically, social media
introduced in 2010, you know, they are a part of that new world that is zeitgeist, which I think
you call them the I generation. So they're pioneers in that regard and they look at us,

(22:16):
although, and I'm talking Gen Z baby boomers who Gen Z, I mean, Gen X specifically, you know,
sort of the architects of social media, of big tech, right? But they look at us as the old guard,
right? As the old fogies, you know, they're the pioneers and yet we're still in this with them.
So we're like objectively just watching them. Right. And I want to key in for a second, since

(22:41):
we're still talking about who they are before we get to what do they want. But you know,
we had also talked about, you know, I love that book, The Martian. Right. And The Martian comes
out what in 2010, 2011, somewhere around there. Because I remember the film came out sort of not
too long after with Matt Damon. Great movie. And I'm working as an assistant principal at this time.
I'm at Maplewood High School in East Nashville, right? But I love The Martian and PBL had really

(23:06):
become just a new thing, project based learning. Right. So we're doing PBLs. It's got to have some
kind of anchor, you know, event, some hook. The movie Interstellar had also just come out.
It's amazing. So we're reading the book, The Martian. We take the kids to see Interstellar.
And the project culminates in this terraforming a cacti, you know, in a controlled environment.

(23:31):
But it ended up being really cool. We built sets. We had kids in spacesuits. We're filming it using
Google Hangout. It's like, that's my world at that time. And I just remember thinking, man,
how cool is it going to be? Remember, we're thinking pioneers for this generation. How cool
is it going to be when we send these young people to Mars? Right. I'm just thinking now,

(23:53):
this is the generation that goes to Mars. But what ended up happening in reality, in real life,
we did do an incredible experiment on that generation. We just didn't send them to Mars
quite literally. No. But what we did is we took the theoretical atmosphere,

(24:15):
antigravity, all the potentially bad stuff that could happen to a developing body and brain
growing up on another planet. Right. Isolated. And we put that in their hands. And we're just
watching. And we stepped back and became observers to these pioneers.

(24:37):
Pioneers in the largest mass experiment in humanity. Right. I mean, I think we could honestly
say, and that's Gen Z for me. When you say who they are, and I want to put like a period on that,
man, Gen Z is the largest experiment undertaken by humanity as pioneers when we stood back as

(25:01):
observers and saw the effects of big tech and social media on their brains, on their development.
How close am I on that? I think you're super close because you said pioneers. I think of them a lot
like pioneers or explorers, right? History teacher. And they're a lot like these explorers who left
the old world. Just, hey, something's out there. And we, the older generations, are a lot like the

(25:22):
people in the old world. We just kind of like watching them. Like on the shores. Yeah. Like,
hey, don't forget to ride. I hope you come back. I don't know. But what are they going to find?
Yeah. And then, and again, kind of going to that hunger games. Also though, we're sending them out
there, but we're taking a lot of the resource. Oh, you found this. Thank you. Because older

(25:43):
generations are still in charge of all the businesses and function like that. So we've
literally, like you said, we put that in the phone. Social media is that new world. And almost where
the millennials are kind of the control group. We grew up without it and we were given it. I got a
cell phone. I got an actual cell phone when I was 16. The iPhone, first true, I know Blackberry's

(26:06):
were out there. Sorry, Blackberry. But the iPhone, the first true easy to use smartphone came out in
2007. So I'm a young adult, 20, right? 21. So I've lived without it. I've sat at a dinner table
without phones, without even the problem of a phone. But I've also now have the cell phone. So
we're kind of the control. Gen Z, they're called digital natives. They have never grown up without

(26:32):
that. They've never had a time period without that technology. I remember getting the internet at my
house. I remember them hooking up internet. So there's a time without internet in my home,
which is crazy to think of now. And I remember when I went from dial up, which took forever and
sound like you were killing a cat in the closet, to getting DSL, like we're super fast. And that's

(26:53):
their world. They've never not grown up with that with smartphones. And I think that's super
interesting that that's just that. But they also don't have a lot of the, you've seen this in
classrooms. As much as I grew up with the technology, they still lack some skills, some basic skills,
because it's so easy to get. They've kind of lost how to look for it. Does that make sense? Like
our students are not super awesome at researching. You know, they kind of sometimes go with the

(27:16):
quickest thing. We've had a lot of digital literacy ideas. You got to know what's fake out there.
Yeah, but they've grown up with this, you know, the internet as a nanny, right? And so they trust it.
It is something that they're like, this is this is what's played me blue. Yeah. And I think, you
know, I'm going to jump ahead here a little bit. To that point, you said they trust the internet.

(27:38):
Yeah. That's fascinating, because I think when you leapfrog now to today, with the introduction of AI,
our chat bots, young people now, even Jen Alpha, who follows Jen Z, you know, really embracing their
bots. Right. Okay. You know, you think of the movie like her, you know, other examples of that, but

(28:00):
that generation embracing their bot, back to your point about Jen Z trusting the internet nanny as
an internet tool. Well, now Jen Alpha trusting their bot, some would say more than their parents,
more than their friend groups, peers, society, etc. To the point that sooner than later, that generation

(28:24):
makes the demand that their bot has rights. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I really think that that's
kind of the slippery slope, but I'm glad you brought up Jen Z, ultimately kind of raised by the
internet nannied, if you will, which instills this sense of trust, which opens the door for
Jen Alpha's like bear hugging its AI bot and says, Hey man, this thing deserves rights. Now you're

(28:52):
into agency. So we're giving our bots agency, the ability to have access of our systems, of our
computers, of our accounts. I've curated this. Why don't you trust it? Yeah, man. But it sounds
like you're kind of blaming Jen Z for that, man. They opened the door. Hey, you know, it's kind of
the way I think about this way. Like we, you know, we got the internet, but so it was a new, I don't

(29:15):
know how I feel about you thing, you know? Yeah. So it's kind of like growing up, you know, people,
there are bad people, like, you know, there's some bad people you shouldn't trust, but your sense
around them so much, you naturally get this a trust of people, especially the ones in your circle.
And that's how I feel like Jen Z looks at the internet. Like they grew up around it, so they

(29:37):
don't see it as I should be wary all the time. It's I know there are bad actors out here, but the
general concept is just like people like, I assume it's good. Where the older generations kind of
look at it and be like, like, I didn't grow up with you. So are you tricking me? Is there always
anything bad where they're more accepting? So I'm very curious on that to see too, if Jen Z eventually

(29:58):
is relative is more distrusting of AI, kind of like we were with the internet as a whole, than
then Jen Alpha. I think that's kind of a cool segue then to what do they want, right? And that's
I love the way you frame that where so they embrace the internet, man, they trust the internet. Now
we're seeing this evolution of the internet in the form of AI, you know, open AI, chat GPT,

(30:25):
Claude, etc. But will Jen Z embrace AI, like we already know Jen Alpha is, and everybody in
terms of productivity, but we're really talking about something different, man, a little more
ethereal here and how we connect, you know, with this interface of AI. So yeah, we'll be that's a

(30:47):
great question. Will Jen Z embrace AI or will they reject it as a strong word? Will they be cautious,
be wary of it, like previous generations with the internet? Don't believe everything you read on the
internet. Well, and you see that too, though, it's, you know, many of the media companies are being
really smart, where even like Snapchat has an AI bot you can make, and you can talk to it. So if

(31:16):
nobody's snapping you, you can legit if you're bored, you can snap to your bot. Yeah, you just
make your streak going with your bot, streaking with yourself. Absolutely. And you can get that.
So if you're just like not getting snaps, you can like talk to it. So that's the way it is.
But it affirms you. You've got 37,000 streaks going. Yeah. And you know, 54% of Jen Z's
ears say they spend four or more hours on social media every day. That feels light, man. I think

(31:40):
that's under reporting, dude. As somebody at 45 who is actively working to lower that screen time
report that comes to me every Sunday, I just got mine. And since we're in the new media movement,
I'm gonna be, you know, authentic here. So mine was an average of two hours and 40 minutes today.
But that's me working to get it down. Like I am kind of saying that proudly, two hours and 40

(32:02):
minutes. It's easy. But you know, it's also easy for that report to be, it was five hours on average.
So easy. I mean, you have to be very top down processing intentional about putting it aside
and all that. So that does feel under reported. But still 54% are saying four or more hours. And
they love the visual media. That's their thing. So we're talking about who they are. Visual media.

(32:24):
They're not reading Wikipedia. Right. Yeah. It's the same data suggests that their favorite social
media apps are YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. So what are those all visual? And like you said about this
kind of a little side, you know, story just to prove this, my eldest son, 16 years old, right?
He's on a trip right now. For some reason, his phone just dies. Not dead battery just doesn't

(32:48):
work. So he's like texting us from another phone and trying to figure out obviously we're not with
him. He's on this trip. And he's, you know, one of the terms here for any educators, parents,
just to kind of get you up on the lingo, crashing out. That's a new hot term. Crashing out is
his base. Oh, right, right, right. He crashed out. He crashed out or he's crashed. So he's like,
I'm about to crash out. I don't have my phone. He's legit freaked out. So let's just put that

(33:10):
in context. Again, I'm Gen X, man. So he's so frustrated. So just, I'm going to maybe do
something reckless. Yeah. Just like feeling frustrated. Lose it. And he literally says to us,
hey, could you contact his sister to contact his friend who has his login for Snapchat? And he said,
so he can keep my streaks alive. Like this is, this is top of mind for him. Like what's important.

(33:34):
Yeah. And so we go through this opera of we reach out to his sister who's at a friend's house, like,
Hey, can you contact this person to keep his streaks alive? We're both, my wife and I both look
at each other. Like, why are we doing this? Right. But it's like, we don't want him super stressed.
So it's like, okay. Cause I was going to ask why, but that's it. You know, it's just like, hey,
if we can give him this little nugget. All right. We don't really understand. What's it cost us to
help him out? So she's like, I reached out. He doesn't have his password. You know, he doesn't

(33:57):
have his password anymore. And you know, at this point I'm like, Hey, we're not doing this. What's
your password? Reach now. And tedious. But our daughter goes, could you just text the kid's mom?
If you don't want me to keep doing it and give it. And we're like, we're not texting a parent
a password to give to her kid. Agree. To do these streaks. Lonacy. And so we're like, we're just
done. And our daughter under, but she via text understood this whole conundrum. And she's like,

(34:21):
man, another young phrase, he's cooked. Like she get that she got that losing his streak would be
that stressful. She's like, Oh, he's cooked. I feel so bad. And I'm like, what is happening here?
You dropped two big gems on anybody that's listening that might be older, you know,
Gen Xers like myself. So you dropped, he's going to crash out, right? Code as a just frustrated,

(34:41):
frustrated, maybe do may do something outrageous out of that frustration. And then he's cooked,
like done. It's over. You know, char broiled, man. Well done. Yeah. Game over. Be an older
generation. I like to mess with my kids because I try to learn like my students, I try to learn
these phrases and then use them almost in dad joke way just so they're like, so I did a joke.

(35:01):
I was like, Hey, what's a, what did Joan of Arc and the kid who forgot to study for their finals
both say? And they're like, what? You know, I teach history and they're like, I'm cooked because they
burned her alive in her armor. And all my kids rolled their eyes. One girl was like, why are you
the way that you are? And I was like, I have no idea. You know, but that's, that's their life.
Rest in peace. Right. And you know, these streaks, I've seen it in my classroom, seen it with my kids.

(35:22):
It's just like literally me and you have a streak going. So we got to snap each other every day.
It's a picture of the ceiling tiles. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Picture of the forehead. It's not like a
meaningful like, Hey, what's up, man? But it's this faux connectivity. Yeah. And that's what it is.
And that's that digital visual world. You know, and that, that, uh, you know, a little bit rabbit
hole here, but is that part of this idea for Gen Z that if it's, if it's not posted, I don't exist.

(35:46):
Or like if I, if I don't have a digital footprint, I'm not a part of it. So it's a little bit of FOMO,
you know, fear of missing out. I've got to let them know that I'm here. Right. Right. You know,
here's my streak of the ceiling. Right. Yeah. Just as ridiculous as that is, but you know,
trying to empathize a little bit here. If my whole modus operandi is, uh, if, if you didn't take a

(36:07):
picture, it didn't happen. Right. Right. And then I've got it. And then I'm going to post it because
I exist without that. I don't exist. Yep. I actually have, uh, in my book, the two backpacks
have a chapter, the good, the bad, the ugly of social media. Right. There's a phrase in there
where a girl got her phone taken away and she literally said, she's like, if I can't post online,

(36:28):
do I even exist? Like that exact phrase in the book. And they talk about it. So, and I talk about
them there that they have these two personalities. They have a digitally curated persona. Yeah.
That they have to keep up. Avatar. I tell a story in the book about, I was at the mall one time
and I was just kind of chilling. Cause I was like, I'm done walking around. I'm going to sit here,
just chill. People watch. I saw this like Jenna, a Gen Z girl sitting at a table by herself and she

(36:53):
just looked despondent. She's doing the whole like head on the table, you know, just holding the phone
up and just like almost like lay in there. They're like, you're laying in bed. And then all of a
sudden she like, she's scrolling and then she was like, perks up, looks around her, gets her
background and then smiles bright, beautiful smiles, takes a picture and then immediately back down.

(37:14):
Like, and I was like, that was just two different people. I literally saw that happen. And your,
your ability to kind of, you know, voyeuristically see that in real time, like her code switch almost
between her online persona and what is it? IRL like in real life. Yeah. This is happening. She,
she was miserable at the mall. Maybe weren't there. But let me have a whole story about,

(37:35):
I sent some students to go ask her cause I was just like curious. Cause I was like working on
these ideas. So like I got a whole backstory, but her friends weren't there because they didn't go,
she like skipped this thing her friends were doing. So she was literally by herself, but so she was
kind of miserable. But in her digital life, she was showing like, I'm at the mall, look at me smiling.
I'm here. You guys should be here. And that's not what she was feeling at all. And I think that's a

(37:57):
big part of the digital world where you have to decode this. And again, which is interesting
because what we were just talking about for Gen Z authenticity. So we've, you know, and moving into
again, deeper into what do they want? You know, they want this authenticity, but they're mired in
this trap of in real life versus online persona expectations that are now put on us online.

(38:23):
Remember, this is the generation that in terms of Titanic, we're running from societal expectations.
We're running from certainty, but now, and man, I love this. This, this brings me into like the
mindset of Fight Club. You know, you know, I'm a movie with buff guy. So, you know, I love the whole
idea of Fight Club being, you know, anarchy, we're against the system. I am Jack's withering despair.

(38:49):
Right. But it culminates into shaved heads, ubiquity, everyone saying the same message.
So now bringing that back to even Gen Z, God love them. You know, you start with Rose running
from certainty, running from that kind of oppression and expectation to now I am making sure that my

(39:14):
online persona matches the expectation of what should be there, even though I'm really feeling
this way. And more specifically matching the expectation of the group I want to accept me.
You know what I mean? So you have these old digital, these communities, like tribes. Yeah.
You want to be like a vibrant, you know, a female, but I'm cute. Look, I'm fun. You should like me.

(39:39):
Or if you want to be a, you know, kind of a more anti hero type, like I'm at the mall,
just watching all these people spend their money, you know, it's whatever you want.
Right. And now through Pandora's box, those tribes fed by an algorithm that once you dip your toe
into it and you're hyper connected here, isn't that just where you live? Yeah. Yeah. And where you

(40:01):
funnel further. And that's, that's kind of going to the hunger games. Okay. Yeah. And it gets us all
the way there. There we go, man. We did it bro. We went from Rose natural to then you find your
tribe where it's kind of kill or be killed in terms of carving out this box, this grid that's
unique for me. Right. And you know, and here's my people who live there too. And, but Gen Z,

(40:24):
as much as they're part of it, the older version of Gen Z, they're seeing that. And that's what
they're trying to change and break away. Like, okay, don't put me in the, like, let me decide if
we want to be there. That's why they're getting into politics and stuff to set the policy to where
they're not just unwilling actors in this, they're policy drivers. Okay. They want that. So yeah,
let's real quick go into what does Gen Z actually want out of life. Talk to me. So according to how

(40:49):
Gen Z feels about life and the future in charge from Ed Week, uh, interesting article article from
Caitlin Pete's just here this past summer. So just came out. So really fresh, um, Gen Z, they tend to
be independent. So, so from their work life, like, what do they want? Like as we're growing up,
getting to work, they're independent, they're competitive, they're hardworking and pragmatic.

(41:10):
We often don't think of them as hardworking. And here's the reason I think that we look at them
through our framework of earning your due, you know, like you put your head down, you work hard.
And then like, you know, most millennials, Gen X, I think we expect kind of financial security and
success late. You start to tap it late twenties or by mid thirties, you should, if you're doing

(41:35):
you're on your right, the pathway you've chosen, you should be comfortable, right? You should be
getting the things you want. Gen Z says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you know, like I'm 19,
I'm creating, you know, that's why you see so many of them trying to dabble. But Gen Z was also in,
in terms of a cohort, and this may have been obviously when they were kids, but they were
kind of doing okay. If you think of that cohort starting in 96, 97, and you know, the recession

(42:01):
doesn't hit till 2009, right? So it's kind of like, hey, for the first decade, then things were
going pretty well. And then it just crashes in your face. And your world may or may not have
literally changed after that. Certainly your economic situation may have changed. So back to
that, that generation and what they want, man, heck yeah, I want it right now, because tomorrow

(42:24):
is not promised. Certainly our economic future, you know, school shootings, we can go there. I
mean, you know, listen, everything could change on the drop of a dime tomorrow, man, I want it,
and I want it not now. I want it right now. I mean, that's the Gen Z, I think mindset that
we're dealing with currently. Yeah, well, and you think about this. So and let's think of the,

(42:47):
the older group that entering in the workforce, things we had the recession, oh, nine, okay,
that was like the millennial hiccup, like, because we were kind of in our like, just getting in the
world. Yeah, yeah, or just had been in the world a little bit. And then housing prices drop. So
buying a house, selling a house. I lost my job in the recession. Right. I mean, it got me into
education. Yeah, the recession was awful. Well, going back to Titanic, the iceberg for Gen Z was

(43:14):
COVID. Oh, they were they were about to inherit this booming, beautiful economy that was just
ushering them in here's the world, baby. It wasn't the recession. It was COVID. So for them,
millennials, yeah, recession, right? Yeah, for them, their iceberg was COVID. And it just blew
everything up. I mean, they literally, as much as we're talking about, you know, hey, they're

(43:39):
a digital, they're digital natives, we said that they're also kind of forced to be, you know, for
a year, a year plus, that's what we lived in, I taught classes via zoom, right, are trying to
teach this many classes, I don't even know how lower middle school and elementary teachers did
it. Yeah, because it was hard enough with basically adults. But that's their thing. So when they go in

(43:59):
the workforce, they're about to get this, especially as like older group here, you know, because I was
just four years ago. So you're talking about 27 year olds, or 23, they're graduating college,
going into this workforce and boom, boom, yeah, jobs are gone, no job or remote or remote job.
Yeah. And yeah, there's all different ways to look at that either you lost your job, or there's no

(44:19):
jobs as I'm entering or I was working a job. And then they told me to work from home. So I
got to figure out that situation, or flash forward. Now they're mandating that we come back. But hey,
I've just got my situation figured out over here. Now you're man, we're forcing me to come back when
I've been this productive at home at home when you forced me to go home, right, right. And then I

(44:39):
proved that man, productivity can actually skyrocket can work here while also meeting these other
needs that I have. Yeah. So it was a you know, it's a harrowing thing. We see this in our students,
you see younger kids from that time period there. They struggle to social issues. You know, so that
means because of that, they're very career focused. Because anyone around those peripheries, right,

(45:03):
you know, our youngest Gen Z members are 12. Okay, our oldest 27. So around that periphery of that
time about into the workforce in the workforce entering it, they just kind of blows up. So they're
right now they're very entrepreneurial. And that's why you see all these businesses coming out Gen Z,
like I said, they're entering politics younger, they didn't like those policies. So four years ago,

(45:25):
the 23 year olds are now 27. And we've had more 27 year olds enter our house representatives,
state houses and you know, national federal house than we've ever had.
Talk to me about these entrepreneurial pieces. Like, do we have an idea of what sectors? Is this
mostly gig economy stuff? You know, I'm hearing so much about that. Yeah, let's, let's just tie it
to industry real quick. Absolutely. Right. I mean, you know, job force, labor market, I do a lot of

(45:49):
work as a consultant with industry partners, connecting industries to schools to bridge that
gap, right. Ultimately, to fill this massive hemorrhage of people leaving the workforce,
baby boomers retiring 10,000 people a day, young people just literally not choosing some of these

(46:10):
paths anymore because of things like the gig economy, right, or being a task rabbit, you know,
I'm just going to be an Uber Eats driver, I'm going to, you know, work for Kroger delivering
the stuff. I mean, I just see this kind of thing happening more and more. But what it does do
is give Gen Zers this incredible flexibility, right, and autonomy to also do other things

(46:38):
while meeting these basic needs in a gig economy kind of setting. I mean, am I close on that? Yeah,
or what are these entrepreneurial things, man? A lot of it is digital. It's creation, content,
content creators, content creators. I mean, you have, you can talk about anything now if you just
get that little thing. A lot of the younger ones, though, they see that and they see these young

(46:58):
people their age getting famous. They don't understand how much, you know, a lot of them,
they don't understand how much work it is. But the ones that get there, they're willing to put that
in. And they do, there's younger clothing brands we've ever had before. It's these small startup
that just have a personal meeting to these kids, to these young people. And that's starting to go.

(47:19):
So you're getting these more niche little things, just the things we would most likely go before.
And because you no longer have to really mass market to people, right, in order to be successful.
Absolutely. You know, artists before creators, I mean, they had to be so mass appealing. Right.
But now you can really bring that to your niche. Absolutely. And as long as you have the right

(47:43):
marketing strategy, platform, etc. I mean, theoretically, man, you could pull this off.
Absolutely. And meet this niche right here, carve your lane. That's what Gen Z is figuring out.
Hey, guys. Sorry. Hey, it's Tommy back here. Hi, Tommy. One thing I want to chime in with
talking about the gig economy is absolutely man is you got to think about what they value.
You know, yeah, and their values are very, very different. You know, they value free time,

(48:07):
they value their own time more than they value money and possessions. Yes. It's like the voice
from God. They do. Yeah, Tommy Ruth. And that's why that's why they choose a gig economy. They
know how much money they need to make to make their rent, their bills, to have a little pocket
money and to travel. Yes. And that's where their heads are at. Yeah, absolutely. Like on here,
it says they're they tend to be anxious and mindful of their future. And as a result,

(48:30):
they're willing to work for that. But they also are wanting again to have, like you said, their
values. If they you value travel, you know, again, millennial generation to speak of them, we would
work to travel when our kids are gone. You know, I mean, that was my whole grow up. Oh, you get to go
do fun stuff with kids. They're like, No, I want to travel. So they'll do, as Tommy said, gig economy

(48:50):
stuff to be able to travel now. And they're completely happy. Yeah. You know, if they're you know, they like, like he said, I can make rent now. I can get right because this is the same generation that ran from certainty and security. And I'm going to code that as social security, or any kind of, you know, pension plan, right, you know, that you might get with a very stable government job or something like that. And they've seen those blow up to they've seen those blow up. They're hearing the narrative

(49:20):
of this large boomer generation is going to take all the social security, we're not going to have any anyway. So I think that I wonder though, I would be in terms of that value, what they value, why they lean towards the gig economy, man, they value, you know, freedom, they value autonomy. But and go with me here, if if the autonomy or the freedom is, hey, let's go on more trips, you know, we want experiences, we want moments. All right, cool. Well, then we go on those. But I'm documenting all of

(49:50):
that. So I can post all of it for content creation. I don't know, man, it still feels like this vicious loop or cycle. And let me let me chime in on that part. Yeah, come on. Bring it in. Think about what you valued at 16. Okay, what was the most important thing to you at 16? At 16 years old, man, I had to have a car.
I'd have a driver's license in a car. I got to get my car. So these kids don't that's not a priority for them. I mean, I hired so many 18 year olds have to get rides to work. I didn't even got my driver's license yet. You know, and think about the house that translates down the road. They're not moving out of their house. They don't go anywhere. They're not going off to college. You know, they're they're staying close to home. Once they are out of college, they're staying at home because one is just too expensive. Right is you know, and two, it's like, but that's the there's no there's no innate hurry to get

(50:38):
out and be a especially especially when you've got the aging baby boomer demographic and that's a massive you know, somebody find me a stat on that I know it's 75 million for Gen Z. But baby boomers massive. You know, my mother's in that generation, right? So she's retired has a little condo, you know, essentially living by herself. Well, a lot of this generation Gen Z, man, they can stay at home because they've got the Gen the baby boomer grandparent or parent that

(51:08):
either needs that kind of care or support or just has the extra space. So you're right. They have found this ready made condition to not have to be mobile to not have to be upward trajectory, man, I can stay here. I mean, again, to me, it's against type on that safety and security piece. But yet it allows me to embrace these other values that I have. Right. It's still ironic though, man, when we're talking about freedom and autonomy, bro, and you may or may not be living with your parents.

(51:38):
Right. I mean, so there's hypocrisy. And you know, there's that idea and I don't mean to get like pseudo psychological here, man. But there's that whole piece of, you know, when you live externally, but internally, you're living a different way back to authenticity and how that makes people feel. And where I'm going with that is, dude, we haven't even touched on mental health crisis, right in Gen Z. Oh, yeah. And how that skyrocketed with that generation and probably no turning back after that. But you know,

(52:08):
the book that I've just read most recently, The Anxious Generation, I mean, that speaks to it and leads with that Mars example. I mean, come on, man. To me, that gets into we may be outwardly persona projecting one thing, but, you know, inwardly, something else is happening. I don't know. It's just fascinating. Yeah, they put a high priority on mental health, like in life in general. There it is, man. The Anxious Generation, that book right there. It's Jonathan Haidt. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that the right way.

(52:38):
But The Anxious Generation, an epic book, but love the way it starts off with that whole Mars analogy. Absolutely. And, you know, like you said, mental health, they put a lot of priority into that treatment. They're open to therapy where other generations, especially males, never go to therapy.
They're totally into medication. And they toss around therapy speak. And I've heard this with my students. They talk about attachment styles and cognitive. They know this stuff. Savvy. Yeah. And so but they're open to that. And you often wonder, you know, being that open. It's a good and a bad thing. I think it's good. Like they're the generation that basically kind of came up with and as popular as like the idea of toxic masculinity. You know, to where like, hey, and that's again going the Titanic. We're not going to live this way.

(53:23):
Like, I'm a dude. I'll cry if I need to. Yeah, I'm not wider. I'm not going to sit there. I'll wear a dress at the award show if I want to. Yeah, it's my straight up straight up heterosexual man. But that's what I'm choosing to wear. You know, the gender identity, right? All that stuff kind of comes into play. Yeah, yeah, they're definitely more open to I mean, they're identified. They're less traditional view of sexuality kind of what you're talking about in 2021 20.8% of Gen Z identified as LGBTQ plus.

(53:52):
Compared to only 10.5% of millennials. So that's a big jump. You know, 10% jump. They tend to think, you know, and when they're thinking about that, they tend to think what's right is what doesn't hurt anyone. So they're more of a feeling focused.
Empathetic. Yeah, we're to wear older generations because some of the things they've dealt with are, it's more Machiavellian, like, you know, the means justify the end. So maybe this group this this might hurt some people, but right or what's you know, what's best for the greater good, you know, may have to be at the sacrifice of a few. Whereas this generation with this just this this empathic scope, you know, this this empathic pillar of responsibility is not

(54:39):
going to allow anyone to suffer or get hurt. That's why you see, I think you're getting this big and that's why they're joining our government at such high numbers is you're getting this big collide, this big battle between these ideas because they're like, no, no, no, like we should. They're more inclusive because like we said that ethnically diverse, sexually diverse. So they see is what what's right is what doesn't hurt anybody. So they're like, no, no, they should have rights. You know, so they're more involved. So then look, look, man, look, answer this question for me. And you're currently in the

(55:09):
classroom, right? I mean, you were a public school teacher, high school, and you teach a broad range of intelligence levels from AP classes to standard stuff. You know, so here's the question that I want answered, you know, right now as it relates, you know, to Gen Z, we talk about them being fiercely independent, we talk about them being inclusive, you know, this loose idea of

(55:39):
gender roles, toxic masculine, all this stuff you even coined. I mean, you're saying they coined that kind of ideology of yeah, hugely popularized toxic masculinity, I think Schwarzenegger and and you know, Stallone from my era just right.
But here's the question that I want answered. I mean, it's not unfair to say that there is more polarization and tribalism on social media, certainly. Absolutely. Right. Let's just kind of stay there. There's more tribalism, polarization, you know, toxicity there. But isn't that their world? Right.

(56:19):
It is. And I think it's come into like you said, there are there, there are the pioneers. So they're the generation that's that's trying this out, where you had very clear, you know, Gen X, very clear roles. You know, you were, you know, just talking about sexuality, you know, you were you're a guy you dress a certain way you acted as very patriarchal.

(56:40):
Yeah, for sure. And then millennials still that started to kind of started to tip a little bit but still kind of clear where they're again, they're all about that authenticity. If that's how you feel in this moment, be it. But there's still segments of on social media to where you do get this tribalism of that because that's how I feel. This is how I feel. So everybody's kind of allowed to be what they are because how you feel comes at the expense of someone else's feelings. Right. I can't accept that.

(57:09):
So if we're going back to that, right, where, hey, I'm inclusive. Hey, diversity, right, have your own opinion, as long as it doesn't offend me. Can I use that word? Yeah, is it I think and I think that's an offense, not even part of that's the older generations pushing into again that like thing like I guarantee we're all human.

(57:32):
So there are obviously Gen Z or who are like, Nope, that's wrong. You know, I mean, like, they're still feel that because it's part of being raised a certain way, however, but I think it's a lot of it. The older generations are also on there, too. And they're kind of pushing against that saying why? No, like, don't wear a dress. You know, like Timothy Chalamet. I think he wore like a blouse thing.
I do. He's got no problem getting ladies, but that's just what he was comfortable with. We're older generations like, you know, which is only funny. Miss old hack is Dennis Robbins wearing like a wedding dress, you know, in the nineties. So so I mean, it's not it's not his old hat. But right. You've got these temperatures that flare and all of that.

(58:09):
I'm a big Chicago Bears fan. Our new quarterback Kayla Williams paints his fingernails because his mom worked in a nail salon and that's the way he got to hang out with her. So she'd go and he she'd do his nails. We talked to her. Right. So he still does that to us like an homage. And there's a bunch of people out there. He gave like quarterback, you know, so you get that. But we're some young people are like, No, man, do you paint paint your nails? You know, like, right. And so you get that tribalism. And I was just, you know, kind of from that, you kind of see this divide of the generations the other day on Christmas break, just kind of chilling,

(58:39):
picking up. I'm well, I watched the new Netflix film Carry On Jason Bateman. Yeah, I have not seen it, but getting good reviews. Yeah, it's definitely interesting. Love Jason Bateman. He plays this terrorist who's in the main character's ear.
I like the movie Phone Booth, if you remember that. So is he not on screen a lot? He eventually gets on there, but it's mostly his voice, which he has a great voice because he's not like scary, scary. Yeah. And he's there and the heroes, Taron Egerton.

(59:06):
And so he's just a TSA agent working. And at one point, you know, so they're kind of it's like, hey, you got to do this. It's going to happen a few minutes. I'm watching you. So at some point, they just start chatting like he's in his ear. So he's just like, so tell me, you know, they start talking.
And Jason Bateman says is talking about how our main character, who's younger, is Gen Z, brother of Gen Z, is asleep. He's like, you're asleep. You're afraid to advance yourself in your career because you want everything. You're this way. And he says this, which I truly feel like encapsulates the split between Gen Z and Gen X. Okay. That's kind of what Jason Bateman's. This is what Bateman is saying to the protagonist. He says your generation is so taken with the concept of authenticity that you will not take a bite.

(59:48):
Unless you know, it's the perfect hashtag, real thing, real coffee, real pizza, real bagel. Okay. Yeah. So it's kind of an interesting, like, look at that is you won't even try it. Right. Because you need to know where other generations are like, you know, maybe this isn't what I wanted to 100% do, but at least it's getting me here.
He's saying you guys, you're still doing and TSA agents are awesome and heroes, but in this movie he wanted to be a cop, but he wasn't. So he's like, you won't even try that out. Now he failed once. He's like, you won't even go back because you're so afraid that it may not be where your heart's going. He's like, so now you you're just stuck here.

(01:00:26):
Well, what I'm hearing is anxiousness. Right. And your generation is so anxious. Is this the real deal? Will I be judged on this? Can I post this? That's what I'm hearing. You know, I haven't seen the movie, but when I'm thinking of him, like using that phrase against that generation. Yeah. You're so anxious to do anything. Right. Because you don't know the answer or the authenticity of it. It doesn't have, you know, the, the,

(01:00:56):
the seal, the 9.6 and it's grading. You know, you can't see the company that did it. Right. Or it doesn't have the stitched logo that tells you.
And that's why they're there and work. They're more, they, they more are into their potential for growth and salary and benefits. And they are branding, you know, because they want the perfect thing for them to where, you know, if I would have got called up from, you know, some company, you know, Google calls me. I was like, we want you to be your education guru. I would have been like, heck yeah. I'm going to work at Google to where they're like, okay, what's, what's the room for growth? What's the salary? Yeah. You're Google. Cool. Evil empire.

(01:01:35):
I want what's good for me. Or I just wouldn't be like Google. Yeah. Yes. I made it.
Which is why I think in, and man, I, I'm proud to say I was, I was, I was a part of this movement kind of on the front end, but we've seen this dramatic shift, you know, back to your thing with education and students choosing a vocational career path. Right. You know, students opting out of post-secondary four year universities that bachelor degree, you know, homeostasis standards.

(01:02:04):
Now this idea that with this, this exiting workforce and these skilled trades that can pay so lucratively if done the right way. Right. Hmm. This could be the thing for me. And we're starting to see Gen Z kind of parlay or leverage its social media savviness to create, you know, these new plumbing niches or welding niches, you know, or artisan carpentry niches that they can do themselves.

(01:02:35):
They can curtail that.
Skilled based, right? Tangible, experiential, leveraging the power of this to brand myself. Right. Right. You know, not support some other dude's brand necessarily.
Absolutely. I'm not a, I'm not a wheel or cog.
A cog in this wheel that supports some CEO who's not doing any work. I'm putting in the work. I'm busting tail, but I'm also organizing the content, broadcasting it and receiving 100% of the residuals.

(01:03:06):
I'm making the money and charting my path until I don't want to.
That's Gen Z.
Yes. Where in the past we just worked, we were, we were the cog, you know, and just went along and hoped, you know, how many, how many, we're talking about movies, how many movies are like the guy hopes he gets the promotion.
Yeah. I hope I get them. I work so hard. He doesn't get it. It's, they don't want a world with that. There's that, that's a part of that anxiety. I don't want to worry about that. I'm going to mold everything.

(01:03:32):
Yeah.
To where I'm the one pushing the button if I get an advance.
You know, bringing this all the way back to education, you know, in education we deal with standardized testing. I mean, it's, it's, you know, it's just one of the, uh, the warts on this thing that we all, we all have to deal with.
And I've always kind of wondered as we all grew up with standardized testing, I certainly did. I don't remember it having the kind of pressures that it does now as a student taking it, but it was something that we did. I grew up in Indiana. We took the I-STEP test.

(01:04:00):
Yeah.
So I remember bubbling it in and all that, you know, but I was kind of wondered, I didn't like doing that. I don't know that any generation has embraced it.
I love a standardized test.
But it's only gotten worse, right? In terms of the anxiety and all that that we hear in the 501-4s and all of that, the 504s.
But now that we're getting this generation that's coming into education as educators and now going from teachers to even administrators, you know, at what point do they outright reject?

(01:04:32):
Right.
Man, we hated doing that. This is how it made us feel. And it's still pretty palpable. Triggering would be another word that they like to use. It's still very triggering.
So how could I even put that on a kid? I mean, this is where I wonder kind of how close we are to some of that.
But I think the front end of that, the tip of that spear is kids saying, you know what? Man, I'm just not interested in college.

(01:04:58):
Right.
And for that matter, the ACT necessarily. But I am interested in this thing over here where I'm using these tools to create this thing.
And there's learning involved and certifications. And now that does interest me.
I'm choosing all this.
But I'm choosing that. So that pendulum, though, is starting to swing back this way a little bit.

(01:05:18):
And I think it goes to what you said, man. I'm no longer going to be a cog in this company's wheel, support this CEO who I never see, don't believe he wrote that mission and vision.
Right.
You know, but I'm the one breaking my back over here. I'm going to do that for me.
Well, and who if does a major scandal is going to get a 10 million dollar golden parachute where I come in late three times, they're going to fire me and this is this is why I think, man.

(01:05:45):
And I've really felt this way, you know, for the last couple of years, the game is changing in terms of industry in a massive way where you are now going to have I don't care how big your company is necessarily, dude.
You're going to have an entire department, big or small, that's dedicated specifically to connecting with young people.

(01:06:06):
Right. Yeah. Right. I think in I.L., you know, name, likeness and the way that's impacted sports, college sports all the way down to like even high school level sports.
Yeah. You know, the way that is changing things. I think I think we see the same thing happens in terms of this labor market where companies have entire departments that are specific designated to connect with young people, find out their aptitudes, what they're interested in, how we can mentor them, connect with them.

(01:06:33):
You know, this is sort of gets into the work of what I do. But I think it's so true, man, that if you're not doing that as a company, as an industry leader right now, you're missing out on those boats.
It's those companies that got in had a website first, those companies that figured out how to leverage social media first.
The Joe Rogan's of the world that figured out how to crack the podcast code first by breaking it up into these little segments and pushing them out on social media.

(01:06:57):
It's those companies that create those departments do that interface with kids that become successful in getting those kids as employees because they're going to listen, dude.
They're going to build the relationships, which creates that belonging unlocks efficacy.
Now I'm listening to kids. Well, here's what dudes good at.

(01:07:18):
But I'm also understanding who he is as a person and what he wants. And hey, we can offer that to you over here.
Let me show you. And now, since we know each other on a first name basis, you're not a cog in this wheel, man.
Come on, let me show you how you add value. We can fill your cup with purpose.
Dude, that's the new game changing approach to getting young people into the labor force.

(01:07:40):
Absolutely. And I think that we're at a tipping point with this generation because, like you said, even in college, I mean, the older generations, the newer generations, they're kind of come into a head in these things like an aisle.
You know, we have athletes who are literally deciding where they're going based on the opportunities to them because they're nowhere in the path.
I mean, in the past, you played college football, you would play through a dislocated shoulder because maybe you need a good game to get to the draft, you know.

(01:08:08):
And that was you were willing to give that all for four years for that team. Now they're like they play for a year.
Oh, I can get a better opportunity here because I can set my own path.
It looks like to older generations, a lack of loyalty, selfishness, loyalty, self-grandizing, all of that.
But it's so easy for me to say, really though, dude, again, I'm 45, but it's like, really?

(01:08:31):
These are the same people that sacrifice their youth, you know, their health on the front end to be essentially, you know, just jettisoned when the career is over.
And you want to talk to me about loyalty? You want to talk to me about having chronic disability pain, long stint, man, CTE, dude.
Oh, man, it's terrifying.

(01:08:52):
And you want to talk to me about loyalty?
Right, yeah.
So I don't suffer those arguments.
I totally get it. I'm with you on that where you can see their argument.
But it is scary because, again, there are a generation that's grabbing that and vocally asking for it, like demanding it.
Where in the past it was something you got when you earned, like, oh, when I get a little older and I can go into politics, I can change things.

(01:09:15):
That way it's not hard, but, you know, I've got to keep quiet, you know, know my place.
They're like, no, hey, I'm 17.
You're going to make money because I'm going to catch a lot of great passes.
You, the college football, you know, sphere.
Right.
So I'm going to go where I can make some money because as soon as I get hit in the knee and I'm done, you're never going to talk about me again.
That's right.

(01:09:36):
And so, you know, it's that that agency.
I give it to young people.
And so that's that's who they are and their life and they want.
So we mentioned that movie.
So I think it's a good time to kind of do a new little segment, little fun.
Right. Come on.
I've been looking forward to this.
Yeah. So we have mentioned a new movie.
Ryan's time for our pop catalog pop quiz.
All right. So we're both movie buffs and comic buffs and pop catalog dot com.

(01:10:00):
It is an amazing place to visit, to find or sell any collectible you could think of.
They have original movie posters, DVDs, Blu-rays, VHS, laser disc CDs, vinyls, action figures and video games of every era and system you could think of and comic books and other art.
Pop catalog dot com.
Elevate your collection.

(01:10:21):
And I got to I got to give a big shout out to pop catalog dot com to you know, I'm of course a big movie guy.
I love vintage movie posters.
That's that's my thing.
I love movie posters, man.
Those twenty seven by 40s.
I love the big ones, the theatrical ones.
So pop catalog dot com growing up.
Man, I loved a movie called Red Dawn.
All right.
I grew up in the Cold War era.

(01:10:43):
You know, this is the Patrick Swayze version, you know, written, I mean, directed by John Milius, who made Conan, who co-wrote Apocalypse Now.
So this idea of teenagers, you know, battling the communists.
Right.
And me. So I end up being able to score man for a really good price and original, you know, vintage Red Dawn poster.

(01:11:05):
And back in the day, they used to fold them, man.
I was just that was part of what they did.
So, you know, it's got the folds in it.
I've now got that mounted on the wall.
But pop catalog dot com, dude, when I tell you their collection of vintage movie posters, bro, is as deep as anywhere I've ever seen.
You know, but they're on socials, man. They've got a they've got a YouTube as well.

(01:11:26):
But check out pop catalog dot com.
If you're a movie fan, you just love pop culture, you know, records, vinyls, laser, just they've got all that physical media, dude, which is something we haven't really touched on in this episode yet.
Maybe we get to that later.
But I'm a physical media guy.
Right.
So, man, they've got all your physical media needs, man.
Check out and big shout out to my man, Noah Brooks, CEO, pop catalog dot com.

(01:11:51):
He's a good dude. He's a nerd just like us, man.
His wife's in education as well.
So, yeah, she's a librarian, man.
Such as really cool story that they got pop catalog dot com.
Hit me with the nerds.
Unite, man.
Yeah. Thank you for pop catalog dot com for being part of the show.
So our pop catalog pop quiz question of the day is this earlier, we discussed how Gen Z is very visually drawn to social media apps.

(01:12:13):
So which of the following do you think they use the most?
We got A, TikTok, B, Instagram, C, YouTube or D, Snapchat.
What you got?
Yeah. You know, just after we've talked, you know, saying visual, but I'm thinking new.
My guess is going to be TikTok, man.
TikTok is all the rage.

(01:12:34):
Tommy, you got a guess back there?
Is he thinking of something?
No, I'm sorry.
We had no music.
TikTok, man.
You got TikTok.
So both of you have TikTok.
All right. Cool.
So pop catalog answer, according to social media today, using data from the Pew Research Center.
So it's all high end data for Gen Z members 18 to 29.
So it's not even our young.

(01:12:55):
It's just a good skew.
OK, they threw 29 in there just to get that age group.
Yeah.
The top site is YouTube.
YouTube.
Coming in at 93 percent.
Shout out to YouTube, all the people out there watching.
Yeah, man.
With almost every major.
The nano generation.
Yeah, almost every major Gen Z trend is coming from gamers or trendsetters on YouTube.

(01:13:16):
And Instagram came in second.
Leave that up there for a second here.
Instagram came in second.
Yeah.
At 78 percent.
Snapchat at 65 and TikTok at 62.
Would you think I thought TikTok would be the highest as well?
Because they're just always on that.
But I think it's because they also learn stuff off there.
You know, they get episodes off there.

(01:13:37):
It's just kind of a place to go to YouTube for everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it just it just reminds me of when I think of YouTube as there was that time we were
calling it, you know, micro credentialing or the nano generation.
Yeah.
So this idea that they didn't need school.
They had their own.
Their school was YouTube.
Look stuff up.
So if I want to learn something, I'm not going to listen to this dude in here his way.

(01:13:58):
I'm going to go to this video and fast forward to the part that I want to learn from.
Yeah.
But so I guess in the end, it's not it's not shocking.
Yeah.
I mean, they're all the same, you know, Instagram, they get the picture, Snapchat.
You're obviously you have to have somebody communicate with that or TikTok 62 percent.
I would probably like to see TikTok.
I think I'll shoot up here.
But with this group is still YouTube because YouTube also has the YouTube shorts, which

(01:14:20):
I think kind of for especially the younger group, they just kind of do everything there
if they want.
So super interesting.
So pop catalog dot com pop quiz.
Most used social media site was YouTube.
Super interesting.
Tommy, can you can you pull up that that pop catalog just one more time?
And that was that was cool, dude.
You had those images up and you just got a quick kind of look at what just look at that,

(01:14:46):
dude.
So beautiful soprano.
Get into like this is this may even be physical media like DVDs and stuff like that.
But he had the posters up earlier.
Yeah.
Look at those original movie posters that mouse speed by Tommy.
Good job, Tommy.
You know, and it's just it's yeah, he's on it.
Look at that.
Braveheart.
There you go, man.
Look like fear and loathing in Las Vegas.

(01:15:07):
Johnny Depp.
Oh, yeah.
You know, one hundred and fifteen.
But these are vintage, man.
Again, these are all vintage, dude.
Yeah.
I saw the David Lynch dune on their 60s, 70s, 80s, bro.
Come on, you boy.
Paul Schrader's cat people.
Look at that Mad Max vintage, bro.
How much is that one going for?
Seven hundred and eighty five, dude.
But that's vintage Mad Max.
Mel Gibson.
That's a bad exploitation poster.

(01:15:28):
I love that.
So just check out their site, man.
It is thick.
It is thorough.
It's for collectors, but they've got price ranges, man.
Everybody can get involved in this.
But they sell on there as well.
So you can sell on their contact.
They buy a ton of stuff.
Yeah.
So, you know, granny's basement, man, or attic.
You know, you've got the collection of DVDs or old cartridges you want to get rid of.

(01:15:50):
Men, this dude buys all of it.
Popcatalog.com.
So hit him up.
So YouTube, dude, is Gen Z's.
That's their go to, according to Pew Research Center.
So it's super fast.
It's super fast, but it's all about that visual.
Right.
They want to be able to see it.
Yeah.
It's about and it's being again, like you said, to be able to skip stuff.
The chapters that YouTube now does where you can skip that.
And they find it for everything.

(01:16:11):
So, you know, where we used to, you know, I learned a bunch of stuff by following my
dad around and hoping I didn't screw up, you know, because he's out there working.
I'm like, do you need this yet?
He's like, no, you know, they go by watching videos.
Like they know how to change a faucet because they watch it to where I'd like to watch to
YouTube.
I know YouTube exists.
Sometimes I'll think of that, but I'll still call my dad first.
And he's like, hey, how do you do this?
Right.
Right.

(01:16:32):
Yeah.
And he always likes to make the joke of like, hey, hold the phone closer so I can see it,
which now I can just FaceTime.
We could do actually do that.
But that was the joke of like, I'm not there.
I can't see.
Yeah.
And, you know, I think probably one of the reasons why I went to TikTok as my first choice,
you know, having conversation with our producer, Tommy, you know, he made the point that, you
know, young people aren't using Google to search anymore.
In fact, what's the fastest way to tell a young person that you're old?

(01:16:55):
Google it.
It was like, who uses Google, bro?
The young kid term for that too, just to help out our older listeners is search it up.
Search it up.
Yeah.
That's their kid.
Like my 12 year old, he's always like, he's like, Hey, do you know when this happens?
I was like, I'm not sure.
But he's like, search it up.
You know, right.
But his mode of search would be TikTok.
Yeah.
Is whatever.

(01:17:16):
Yeah.
It's wherever he thinks like he doesn't go straight to Google.
He'll actually.
And it's funny that we said YouTube and now thinking about it, he'll go to YouTube to
just search for a general fact where I'd go to Google because I want to read Boo's stack.
Right, right, right.
Where he'll like go to YouTube and there'll be a video and I'm like, bro, that could be
a quicker way.
But that's just where his brain works because he wants to see the fact that he wants a little
breakdown on it.
Yeah.
He wants that complete understanding quickly.

(01:17:37):
Man.
Search it up.
It just reminds me, you know, recently I heard a filmmaker named Harmony Kareen say that,
um, he's a Nashville guy, you know, made movies like Gummo, wrote a movie called Kids.
Um, but he recently said that, you know, film as a media is dying as a format.
And specifically here's why your best talent, your youngest talent, your new creators, their

(01:18:00):
dream isn't to make movies.
Their dream isn't to tell that kind of narrative, that kind of story.
Right.
We're doing the social media content creation clips.
We're doing some experimental pieces over here.
We're even still telling stories a different way.
But film as a medium, 90 minute, two hour, that whole thing, according to Harmony, a

(01:18:21):
thing of the past.
Now that's scary to a guy like me.
But when you think of that slippery slope, we started out with theaters, projectors,
literal film and went to digital.
Now we're streaming.
Now it's here.
And then it just makes me think of these pillars like Google.
Now I'm old enough to remember life before Google.
Ask Jeeves.

(01:18:41):
And then Jeeves, remember that dude?
But then came Google, such a big deal.
The expectation just becomes Google exists in perpetuity now, like forever, right?
We're now about to see that maybe eclipsed possibly, even in my lifetime maybe.
I just find that kind of stuff fascinating, man, that I can't even get stuck on things

(01:19:04):
now for a generation because they move so quickly.
Yeah.
And it's because that visual media style, part of getting older is you just kind of
lose the trend.
Certain words become you don't know what it means.
But they change so quickly.
Like as a teacher, I remember when I first started teaching, been doing this 15 years.
Not that long.
When you think of the whole generational arc, I could latch onto a phrase, like crash out.

(01:19:26):
I could use that for like two years.
And kids would look at me like, dang, he knows the words.
Now I'll say, watch, I'll say crash out in May.
And they'll be like, bro, that was from October.
What are you doing?
It's so fast.
I'm like, I can't keep up.
And I guess that's part of getting older because you always wonder at what point.
When I do stuff like that, my 10 year old son will always remind me, hey, dad, I know
you were born in the 19s, man.

(01:19:48):
But like, I do will tell me, I know you were born in the 19s.
The 19s.
Yeah, they just call it.
That's how he refers.
Yeah, they just call us old.
Like I had a student be like, well, that's because you're an old.
I'm like, an old?
And they're like, yeah, that's why you want to do it that way.
I'm like, I'm not old.
Your birth year has a nine.
You know, a one in front of it.
What is happening to you?

(01:20:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So let's talk.
Let's talk about who Jen's like who they are.
We got their base stats.
We talked about what they want work and all those things.
So let's talk about just throw it out there theoretically.
Let's talk about what they can be.
All right.
So just some ideas.
So we're just throw it out.
There's no before we had stats and everything.
But here we just have a couple strengths we can go through.

(01:20:29):
You know, so some of their strengths, they're pragmatic and they value relationships.
And this is the interesting thing we talked about.
They love people, no matter how different or shocking their lifestyles are.
And I've seen that very accepting.
Always walk in my face, my classroom, just face full of metal, nose piercings, eyebrow
piercing, bunch of ear piercings, the like under the right ear piercing.

(01:20:50):
You know, in growing up in my high school, that kid probably would have got teased by
a couple.
They would have went to the little group.
They would tease.
They just kind of come in and they're all talking like they're all hanging out.
It's your value as what you offer.
And they almost don't even see that, which is super interesting to me.
They're self starters.
They create jobs content.
They just like hypocrisy, which is interesting.

(01:21:12):
They would not follow institutions just because they're supposed to.
They want evidence before they accept something is true.
So that that's the hashtag real, you know, that Jason Bateman said.
So that's some of their strengths.
Some of their weaknesses.
Empathy can overcome their morality.
As we talked about something that's good or something that doesn't hurt anybody else.

(01:21:32):
We talked about Rose, like thinking about that.
They can say, oh, I care so much about what they feel.
Maybe they go against their own morals, which puts you in an interesting spot.
And they have a version to make an aversion to make any judgments due to their belief
that truth and morality is relative.
You know, so they kind of where our generations are.
That's a big one there.

(01:21:53):
I know.
Like it's a thick one.
Our generation, the older generations is like you have your core morals and values and it
is like that is where I live by it is cemented.
There's our truth and morality is relative to the situation I'm in right now, which is
super.
It's scary.
Fluid.
Right.
Yeah.
And that's such a fluid like does society get better because of that?

(01:22:14):
Because we are just kind of moving and adjusting and we're not so stuck on these and we've
seen where these morals have gotten stuck.
In principle, it seems like it could work, right?
You're not so rigid that the thing crashes or cracks or whatever.
You know, what's the whole Bruce Lee like philosophy?
Maybe like water, right?
Right.
And essentially be like grass.

(01:22:34):
Right.
You just you bend, but don't break.
So that feels like that's the place that they're trying, you know, to come from.
Right.
I think the cognitive dissonance piece for me to still get over is so we're anti hypocrisy,
we're authenticity, we're even empathy over morals necessarily.

(01:22:57):
But we still put all of those ideals, those principles through this filter.
And it's still a filter, man.
It is.
Yeah.
And I guess I just kind of struggle with that hypocrisy a little bit.
Right.
Wanting to take all those stats you said at face value, like accept them, but then there's

(01:23:17):
that.
But then it's like, well, man, nobody's perfect.
I mean, yeah, they're pioneers.
They're figuring this out.
They're still shackled to some of these ideological oppressions from the past and the world that
they live in with the people who are still leading it, Gen X is primarily now.
But yet they do want this other thing.

(01:23:39):
So they're still having to work and play within that box.
But man, they're doing their best to expand.
Yeah, they're pushing the edges.
They really are like no other generation has necessarily done before it with the exception,
I'm sure the Elon Musk of Gen X would say, wait a second, man, we invented these platforms.

(01:23:59):
Like we invented Pandora's box.
Right.
Let's don't get that twisted.
Our generation did that.
Yeah.
It's still the things you're using is our hard work.
Right.
So like, hey, don't come play in my sandbox and then tell me how to use my sandbox.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And that's the interesting thing.
And I think it's important to say that when we're talking about a 73 million person group,

(01:24:23):
these are just general, like every individual is different.
So I don't want to think that.
And when I say they're against morals, it's not implying they're just bad.
They're more flexible with what they feel in the moment based on what they're seeing.
So maybe they're not just to be spicy.
Maybe they're not super comfortable with homosexuality.
But then if they see somebody going through something, they'd be like, you know what?

(01:24:44):
I need to reevaluate that.
Where older groups kind of are like, nope, that's how I feel.
It's really hard.
Empathy in that case is going to trump judgment.
Yeah, and that's their relative.
Their morals are relative.
Is my moral right?
It's not cemented to where it can't be moved without how many movies and shows are there
where they're trying to get that older guy to just believe something different.
It's just a struggle.

(01:25:04):
They're kind of more like, no, OK, I see your side.
I'll just.
And they adjust quickly.
So what they evidence is there.
Yeah.
What they can be is they can be really great leaders.
And you've seen that.
I've seen some kids, as a teacher, you're just always scanning a room.
OK, is there a conflict happening somewhere?
Am I not seeing?
Am I?
Am I hearing?

(01:25:25):
And so you always kind of like pick out little errors like, oh, that could be a problem in
a little bit, you know, to kind of very different people near each other.
Maybe they're interacting or so.
You're kind of watching outside your eye.
Gen Z, like I said, when like, you know, kid comes in the face full of piercings, they
like they don't have as much as that to me.
Like, there's still kids being bullied and picked on because that's just youth.
It's just life in general.

(01:25:45):
Trying to figure out who they are.
But they are like they will accept somebody who if I saw like so a group of athletes,
a group of athletes, jocks, the old school jocks.
We think of jocks very stereotyped in the 80s movies.
But they're just jocks in there.
And this kid comes up who's not a jock, right?
Maybe more into, you know, some other things or just not.
They can come up and sometimes you can just see them like, accept them.

(01:26:06):
It's just like, oh, yeah, come here.
And that's really cool because they do get that moment.
Again, it's that authenticity.
What do you bring?
That's time to judge you first.
I know you don't play sports.
Right.
Something I can do.
You can't do that.
It's cool.
Right.
To where it was before.
It was like bad.
The dude knows a whole lot about Lorcan, man.
Yeah.
And you get kids, like you said, we live, you know, we're doing this from beautiful
comic shop.

(01:26:27):
And, you know, now you're getting more acceptance to where like even jocks will start sharing
that they like this stuff.
It's not like, oh, nerdy.
Right.
You know, it's just like, hey, this is what you like.
And that's a really cool thing.
Yeah, I do.
I like that.
I like that idea about that generation.
Yeah.
And being self starters, they'll create a lot of things.
So I think they'll be great leaders.
Seeing them in school, they can do that.

(01:26:48):
And again, they also kind of know what they want.
I have a student who's super smart.
He will not write like he will write a sentence, maybe two on a longer prompt.
And he's smart.
And it's just he's like, you know, you sit down and talk to him.
He's like, I don't want to do it.
All right.
Well, it's going to really affect your grades.
Like, that's fine.
He's like, I'll make it up on the other parts.
He knows what he wants to do.

(01:27:08):
And I'm like, so are you not worried?
I'm just trying to talk to him like figuring this out.
Because again, coming from my generation was like, oh, my God, I got to do this perfectly.
I want to do it great.
You know, like I got to show my worth here.
And he's like, no, he's like, I know what I want to do.
So I just got to get this grade and I get in college and they won't make me do so much
like like a regular regimented high school class.
Yeah.

(01:27:28):
So he's already worked all that out.
But look, man, you know, I've been a I've been a principal, you know, within the last
five years, I was a teacher before that.
My wife is a current teacher, just like you.
Nineteen years.
I'm hearing you say all this, man.
And it does sound encouraging, inspiring.
But isn't this also like the most fragile generation?

(01:27:51):
Isn't this the generation that really struggles with facing adversity and anxiety, overcoming
adversity?
We've mentioned the anxiousness of this generation.
We've mentioned the meteoric rise and continued upward trajectory of mental health crisis.

(01:28:11):
Isn't this still that generation, too?
There are kids and people in this generation who are so anxious they don't leave their
house and not like agoraphobic.
But just I don't want to deal with the dude in Japanese culture.
And this is referenced in anxious generation.
I mean, right.
They have like a term for this person.
You know, that society is struggling right now with reproducing.

(01:28:32):
These people are so comfortable.
Yes, they literally don't leave their rooms.
Yeah, they have their whole world there.
The interesting thing, though.
Yes, as much as it has that in, I think, older generations, those people get put in a very
specific term.
They get put in kind of, oh, you can't compete in this world because you have this affliction,
let's call it.

(01:28:52):
I think this generation says, I think they're going to be able to differentiate and say,
here are the leaders, here are the go getters.
You don't like to go outside.
But because of the way our world is digitized, you're going to make your stuff from here.
We're cool with that.
You can still monetize your content.
You're going to have a great life.
We don't.
And live from this room and have your Uber Eats brought to you.

(01:29:14):
And you'll be fine.
And us leaders, the people who are vocal, we'll be out here doing that part.
But we got you.
I think they're the generation, because of their acceptance, to where we think of that
through our generation.
Right.
You're right.
You're right.
If we had 30% of our people not leave the house, our economy would crash.
Right.
Because we're thinking of, I need people to do this.
I need people to do this.

(01:29:34):
Where they are, OK, you have a niche now.
Yeah.
They've made that niche.
And we've kind of helped make it for them.
Right.
And I may be looking at this through rose-colored glasses now.
But OK, so if my anxiousness won't allow me to leave outdoors, instead, I'm just going to
figure out what I can do here.
How to monetize it and do it from here.

(01:29:54):
Instead of just, I'm going to wilt in here.
And it's this really tragic, sad story.
That would be looking at it through the eyes of a Gen Xer who was raised being told, you're
lazy if you're doing that.
Right.
You're weird if you're doing that.
Yeah.
Go outside.
What value are you?
Are you a productive member of society?

(01:30:15):
This is just Gen Z's lens of, if that's your lane, then that's your lane.
Right.
Figure it out.
It's up to you to be productive in it.
And live a happy life.
Just don't hurt anybody else doing it.
Right.
And to a person who lives that, they would look at us and go, I'm Rose.
Right.
She didn't want the life.

(01:30:35):
And you're lame.
You're a cog in somebody's wheel.
I'm living the life.
And you support somebody else's brand that could give two licks about you at the end
of the day.
So they look at us with a lot of hypocrisy too.
Yeah.
They're like, you just went and fought an old lady for a can of green beans at Kroger.
I had mine delivered.
So who's smarter?
I didn't pay that $15 premium on it to get that 89 cent can.
Right.

(01:30:56):
And that's the problem.
That's the argument.
I want a DoorDash all the time.
But I'm like, no.
Get in the truck.
And drive to save the money.
So they're like, that's worth it.
They look at time differently.
They look at worth.
Like, what could I be doing?
So it's super interesting.
And so that's who they could be.
They could be leaders.
They can be pioneers, like we call them.
And again, I honestly feel that we're at this interesting thing where we have to start looking

(01:31:19):
at it almost like they do to really understand.
Because we do get caught in those old things.
That's why I said earlier, I agree with that 100%.
And I loved how you put it.
I mean, we have to.
This is where empathy kicks in.
We've got to step out of our shoes, stop looking at it through our generation's lens.
Right.
And really try to embrace where they're coming from, which is where I was sort of getting

(01:31:41):
into this earlier from that Gen Z mindset and saying, it may not be necessarily this
doomed generation if you take a step back and understand that they're pioneers in this
new matrix that they didn't build.

(01:32:01):
They inherited because they're digital natives.
And we're interested in how they'll change it, too.
Right.
So they weren't the architects.
But now that they're on the inside and figuring it out as things change, they do become the
new architects of this.
Yeah, absolutely.
And so it's interesting to see where these things go.
Because again, even within this generation, you have all my kids are in this generation.

(01:32:25):
And you'll still have, but again, you have leaders, you have the active ones.
And so my eldest, he'll sit in front of a video game just as much as any other kid.
But he'll come into my youngest room and be like, have you gone outside today?
Just mess with him, being a big brother.
Yeah.
And my youngest will be like, no.
And he's like, go touch some grass, kid.
He'll still like, there is that motivation.
They still value that.
So that's what I mean.

(01:32:46):
You see it's a really interesting multi-layered generation to where you can have all these
things.
You have the person who's super productive in everybody's house.
You can have the person who's so much anxiety.
Maybe they're not being productive.
You have leaders out there being vocal and rallying people.
So they have all this stuff because they have all that information.
They are again, most well-educated generation ever.
I mean, think about that.

(01:33:06):
Not ever in terms of, oh, since like the 1900s.
In the history of this human species, most educated generation ever.
Right.
It's crazy.
You know, and I think, man, I think I'm going to be able to walk away from today 100% able
to say my thinking has changed on this generation in approximately two hours.

(01:33:27):
I've really sort of shifted my thinking in terms of this, yes, creative, but fragile,
anxious, confused generation who had this terrible experiment put upon them.
That's a victim of a merciless algorithm.
That's my mind kind of walking into this.
It's easy that way.

(01:33:48):
But now really analyzing, dissecting some of these things that we know about this generation,
how large it is, and like you said, this kind of multi-layered approach to it.
I mean, I think there's a lot of upside to this generation.
I think based on that last bit you said, their imprint on Gen Alpha, this next generation
that's coming up.

(01:34:09):
My son is 10.
He's a part of that.
You know, I'm already starting to feel some recalibration from that group on social media
addiction, what we believe is too much, being too extra, being on all the time, that kind
of thing.
So I'm wondering how now Gen Z does become, back to your leadership sort of mantra for

(01:34:30):
them, a leader to this generation on, hey, these guys screwed us.
Let's call it what it is.
We were put into this terrible experiment.
We were given us these, you know, the new ads that have just come out for Instagram
teen accounts.
I'm thinking, man, if I'm a Gen Z-er on the older end especially, oh, you're going to
come out with teen accounts now, you know, my dopamine receptors are cooked to use their

(01:34:54):
language.
I'm already cooked.
I've crashed out multiple times.
Now you want to give me an Instagram teen account?
But that to me is that imprint, that's Gen Z saying, look, man, learn from us.
We don't want you, because they're empathy based, we don't want you to be as anxious
as we were.
Don't live and die by these filters, the persona in real life is where it's at.

(01:35:19):
Figure that piece out.
Maybe that's me.
Have authentic connections.
Yeah, man.
I mean, that to me fills me with hope.
And you see that.
And just two last little things here just kind of going off that.
I think we've already seen the growth there that then I think Gen Z will help Alpha grow.
Millennials are well known for, whereas much of we talk about Gen Z being so anxious to

(01:35:40):
talk, millennials are known for being the generation that transitioned from talking
on the phone to do not do anything but text me.
If you call me, I will watch it ring.
I will see it go to voicemail.
And then two minutes later I will text you, hey, what's up?
Because that was, they were like, oh my gosh, I have this.
I don't have to have that.
And I think that went into Gen, you know, that's, you know, parenting rubs off.

(01:36:04):
But Gen Z now is actually more interest.
They FaceTime more than anything.
They want to see Gen.
Sometimes they even have it facing the ceiling.
I've never thought of that.
If you take away anything from today's podcast, we went from phone to texting, but we're back
to FaceTime.
We're back to the call.
Yep.
They're connecting visually at least on each other more than millennials ever do.

(01:36:26):
Yes.
You know, and that's super.
So like as much as we've learned.
Right.
You know, one thing I think we did learn from texting, from emails, you know, I remember
man, well, you can't ascertain tone from an email, right?
Same with texting.
But now millennials, empathy based, Hey, I'm going to need some kind of, I think maybe
is a Gen Xer looking at my lens, but I'm going to want to know.

(01:36:48):
I need facial cues.
Yeah.
Like, you know what you're feeling.
Yes.
I'm not going to get that from a tone, which increases my anxiety.
Yeah.
Hey man, I need to know how that made you feel.
You know, I've got a brother who's 12 years younger than me.
He's in the military.
He's a sergeant.
He's a great dude, but he's 12 years younger than me.
Yeah.
So the other night I'm texting with them and I got to tell him something kind of heavy,

(01:37:08):
but I want to give it in his speak.
So I noticed that with him for as long as we've texted and communicated, he'll, or you
use LOL or now the laughing face emoji.
And sometimes I even wonder like, are you, did you laugh out loud after you said that?
Why are you saying that?
I know.
And I love him.
But, but this week, dude, I did it myself.

(01:37:28):
I had to hit him with some kind of heavy.
So I do it.
And then I put the like, you know, the hilarious face emoji, but just to soften it in his language.
So I know he knows my, oh, okay.
He's not mad.
He's just like, this is heavy and ha ha ha.
Absolutely.
But those kinds of things, man.
I've seen my wife like text, like, so we, we have a group chat with some friends.

(01:37:50):
So she's laying on the couch and her face is like just chilling face.
Yes.
Almost stern, like thinking.
And so, but then the text comes across my phone and it's like, LOL.
Yeah.
Two rolling on the floor laughing emojis, plus all these exclamation points.
I'm like, you okay.
You know, and that's, and that is, I think Jen, Jen Z has said, Hey, because they're

(01:38:14):
so therapy speak driven, you get that.
Yeah.
So like, bro, this, this makes me anxious to me.
That's a breadcrumb though.
Like that, that I don't like not knowing millennials way of like, we're texting here because it
is anxious to be on the phone.
Right.
But now I'm texting, but I do need you to kind of understand where I'm coming from.
So I know an LOL on there.
And then we graduated from that to now we're back to FaceTime.

(01:38:36):
So I can emote.
So you can emote the right way and I can understand it.
And there's no miscommunication, which impacts my anxiety.
Where I think millennials were more willing to be like, you know what?
I'll deal with my anxiety of my own.
I'd rather not talk on the phone.
I'll deal with how I'm reading your coded messages.
Yeah.
Where Jen Z is like, no, I don't need extra anxiety.
So we'll just see each other.
Cause I've told my wife before, I was like, look, I don't, I can't have you just writing

(01:38:59):
a sentence with a period.
Cause I'm a read it like you're mad.
Yeah.
Cause I'm pure millennials.
So I'm like, I need you to throw in a LOL.
So I need to know when you're serious or when it's like lighthearted.
Cause I mean, if you send the same thing, like we're out of milk period.
Yeah.
Or we're out of milk, which could be red because you're dumb tailed in by any last time you
were lazy.
We had milk or get some more.

(01:39:19):
We're out of milk, you know, exclamation point.
It's like, Oh, that means I need to go get it.
So just that one thing can mean different things.
I can read it through whatever I move.
But if I say we're out of milk, LOL, yeah, like, Oh, I'm like, that's crazy.
Okay.
I'll stop and get some.
It keeps the conversation going.
Like I'm out of milk period.
I read it like, am I in trouble?
Like, right.
But now I've got to have the FaceTime.

(01:39:39):
Hey, yeah.
Hey, we're out of milk.
I think I'm going to run by the store.
Hey, could you go?
Yeah.
You're like driving to like walk in.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
So I think, you know, we talked about Gen Z.
I think we learned a lot.
We answered a lot of stuff.
I mean, I think we asked great questions today.
I feel like I learned more about this generation than I knew before coming in.
I really do think my mindset has shifted on the possibilities of that generation.

(01:40:06):
The hope that I think they bring to the table on not only the work they're currently doing,
but how they're impacting Gen Alpha before them, how they are re-engineering what Gen
X has put upon them.
Yeah.
So some exciting takeaways for this woman and great, great for our first, you know,
video produced episode here.

(01:40:27):
Big shout out to Cadets Toys and Comics.
My man, Tommy Ruth.
Shout out our sponsor, PopCatalog.com.
Go check them out.
Incredible, incredible vintage movies, collectibles, everything you could find.
Get it at PopCatalog.com.
Check out Cadets Toys and Comics here in Spring Hill, Tennessee, right on Main Street.

(01:40:47):
Can't miss this.
It's a great spot.
We are Edu Warfare.
Dr. Jordan Lauer, myself, Dr. Ryan Jackson.
Proud to be a part of this new media movement, man, where we ourselves are basing everything
we do on authenticity, experience.
You know, we're bringing you truth.
We're inviting you to be a part of the conversation.
Tell them a little bit about that, man.

(01:41:08):
Connect with us on our channels.
Yeah, absolutely.
So we'd love to hear your thoughts, your strategies, comments about this.
You know, any stories you have about Gen Z, like your interactions with them, any questions
you have.
We'd love to hear that.
Email the show at educationwarfare.pod at gmail.com.
On all the socials again, you know, on YouTube, we're at Edu Warfare.
You can search for the channel, watch the show, watch any other content.

(01:41:28):
You know, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button there and follow button on whatever
other podcast service you listen to.
We're still doing the audio.
So any Apple people out there, you're listening to this.
That's cool.
You want to see us pop over YouTube, pop over Spotify.
Look at that, too.
And, you know, for any new content or episode, you know, so I just I think it's been a great
day.
Understanding Gen Z is good.
I think it's a good thing.
It makes the world better.

(01:41:48):
You know, we're we're passing the torch to them so we can understand them.
I think it helps.
So, you know, I want to throw out a call to action here.
I've spoken with a couple of parents of Gen Z years recently to kind of prep me, prime me
for this episode.
And there's a common thread amongst them that, you know, a lot of a lot of our kids are struggling,
especially our early 20s.

(01:42:10):
Yeah, Gen Z years.
So, you know, if you're a parent listening to this, would love to hear your experiences,
especially if, you know, you have a kid 20 plus, if you've got a Gen Z or who's 20 plus.
I mean, I would really love to hear from you where they are in life, how they're doing,
what they're doing.

(01:42:31):
I think it's fascinating, but would love to just hear those different perspectives.
So please chime in, especially, you know, if you're a Gen X parent with a Gen Z kid
who's 20 or older, you know, how those kids who grew up under this kind of experiment,
you know, where they are in life right now.
We'd just love to hear from those parents.

(01:42:52):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So educationwarfare.pod at Gmail or at ED Warfare on X.
Or drop us a comment in the YouTube.
Yeah, drop us a comment in YouTube.
We'd love to hear from you.
So it's been awesome being here, you know, from Cadet Toys and Comics.
Beautiful spot, you know, for Tommy Ruth, for Dr. Ryan Jackson.
I'm Dr. Jordan Lauer saying thank you for contributing and for emails.

(01:43:13):
Thank you for listening and thank you for being a part of the fight.

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