蜜芽传媒

As a listener to the Today programme, it could surprise you to learn that traditional radio is still popular with many of Generation Z 鈥� These young people, now aged between 15 and 30, grew up entirely with digital media. They can seem addicted to their screens, socially detached. But that鈥檚 a mistaken assumption.

Around 2010, when the last Gen Z-ers were born, social media was opening new horizons. Now, two-thirds of young people in Britain, conscious of dangers to self-esteem and mental health, support a ban on social media for under-16s. When it comes to their love life, nearly 80% of Gen Z-ers admit to burnout with dating apps.

For all their digital connections, younger people embody a huge paradox: they feel isolated. In the UK, almost two million of them claim they are chronically lonely.

This epidemic of loneliness is rooted in a loss of shared meaning. As they search for community renewal, many young people are turning toward religion and spirituality. In the US, one-third of them now declare a belief in a higher power. Across North America and Western Europe, with more Gen Z-ers espousing Christianity, the decades-long decline in the church is slowing down. Young people are finding that a moral architecture can reassure and anchor them. Increasingly. they recognise that a route to healing and enlightenment lies in silence, meditation and prayer.

On a more corporeal level, they are losing their obsession with projecting a 鈥榩ersonal brand鈥� on social media. The are readier to set boundaries and dial things down. The oft-heard acronym FOMO 鈥� Fear of Missing Out 鈥� is making way for JOMO 鈥� Joy of Missing Out 鈥� as they seek internal fulfilment rather than external validation. I鈥檓 reminded of St Paul, reflecting on the benefits of his faith in his letter to the Philippians: "I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances ...鈥�

Too often, Gen Z-ers are dismissed as snowflakes. But if they are hypersensitive, they are also more acutely aware of what it means to be human 鈥� and of the challenges the human race must overcome.

When I ask young people about the passions that drive them, they go blank. But when I ask what makes them angry, they give me chapter and verse. It鈥檚 heartening to see how they channel that anger, putting their digital savvy to good use as they form grassroots movements, mutual aid networks and spiritual communities.

Yes, young people are anxious and angry, but we all need to recognise that Gen Z, the rising generation, is far from being lost.

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