As the holidays are upon us, as colleges and universities wind down their terms, and as students return home, I want to ask the families and friends of our college and university students for a favor—please be kind to them. Our nation’s Gen Z students are having a tough time. These Gen Zers are immersed in a world of social media, extreme and aggressive polarization, and regular political and institutional instability that they must manage daily. I ask for kindness for Gen Zers because, despite the instability, there tends to be a fixation in the media on the health, loneliness, and status of older Americans at the explicit expense of consideration for younger Americans and their mental health.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation national survey on the mental health of Americans conducted this fall makes my concern for younger Americans quite clear. When asked how often one feels lonely, for instance, younger Americans are far more likely to state that they are lonely and isolated than older generations. Sixty-one percent of Gen Zers—Americans 18 through 24—report that they feel lonely sometimes, often, or always compared to just half of that figure when Silent generation members (30 percent) are asked the same question. While just 12 percent of their Boomer grandparents responded that they are always or often lonely, 30 percent of Gen Z Americans maintain that they are regularly lonely. There is a loneliness crisis in America taking place among disconnected and isolated younger Americans, not older Americans, despite the dominant media narrative.
Similar and equally disturbing trends immediately emerge when Americans are asked about both depression and anxiety. Sixty percent of Gen Zers report that they feel depressed sometimes or more often compared to 41 percent of Boomers and 28 percent of Silent generation members. As for feelings of anxiety, 76 percent of Gen Zers state that they feel anxious sometimes or more often, and almost half (48 percent) report being anxious often or always. Boomers look very different with just 18 percent stating that they feel anxious often or always and just 10 percent of Silents report feeling anxious often or always.
Gen Zers are suffering at levels nowhere near older generations, and the consequences are borne out in other social and economic indicators in the data as well. For instance, when asked about local, neighborhood sociability, older cohorts are far more social with their neighbors; almost three-quarters of Boomers and Silents state that they talk with their neighbors fairly regularly—that is, a few times a month or more often. In contrast, only 41 percent of Gen Zers talk to their neighbors a few times a month or more often; just a fifth (21 percent) speak with those in their immediate proximity a few times a week or more often. While not all neighbors may be deep social intimates, they are instrumental in creating community and feeling anchored to a place. These generational differences are significant.
My experience as a professor has highlighted the inability of students to focus or engage socially, given the state of their mental health and this is born out in the data too. Over a third of Gen Zers (35 percent) reported trouble working because of their mental health, compared to just 8 percent of Boomers and 2 percent of Silents. Many of my students, and students around the country, are struggling to perform and focus; 14 percent have dropped out of mental health concerns.
The good news is that younger Americans remain fairly optimistic about their future despite these troubling data. In fact, despite the negative measures that I have mentioned above, 72 percent of Gen Z Americans are optimistic about their futures despite their very real mental health issues. This is not that much lower than Boomers (80 percent) and Silents (78 percent) considering the far lower reported levels of loneliness and depression. This positive outlook is remarkably strong given the levels of isolation and anxiety present in Gen Z Americans but does not mean that all is nevertheless well today for our students. Many students are struggling.
Parents and families, school administrators, public health officials, and politicos should not take this optimism for granted. Younger Americans are struggling and it is visible almost daily on campus. While older generations deal with loneliness, too, the magnitude of isolation amongst younger generations is cause for concern. College and university students must navigate a hyper-political and aggressive campus and an exceedingly toxic social media culture, all while recovering from the socially isolating pandemic and the pressure of their studies generally. The media has ignored their mental health crisis in favor of senior citizens and this is a mistake. When students come home in a few weeks, please show them the kindness and love they deserve—they need you.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
The post Be Kind to College Students appeared first on American Enterprise Institute – AEI.