By Mia Hanuska
Gen z isn’t “careless” or “apathetic” when it comes to depictions of violence. Despite what many of the older groups try to believe, gen z isn’t evil for making light of serious situations. Instead, it’s become the most popular and widespread form of coping with the constant violence the media pushes, even at a young age.
Take 9/11 for example. A tragedy killing over 2,000 people, the September 11th attacks on the twin towers were undoubtedly and indisputably horrific for all in the United States. However, today’s teenagers are often found making jokes about the event, often parodying the phrase “they hit the second tower.” To some, these jokes are out of touch and cruel to those sadly passed away during the attacks. For these teenagers, they’re often numb to the extent of the situation after seeing it so often. In my elementary school, we were shown videos of the planes hitting the towers starting in fourth grade. Almost every year from 4th–8th grade my teachers showed real videos from 9/11, and each year, students would get more and more bored. Of course, they weren’t denying its tragedy, but instead had just accepted the reality—and that was that. One could also argue that seeing so many videos from such a young age led to students dealing with uncomfortable emotions through humor because it feels safer and can connect them with their peers.
Moreover, a similar mindset has formed around school shootings. Run, hide, and defend drills begin as young as kindergarten; I still remember my teacher showing us The Magic School Bus episodes during them. And frankly, that’s part of the problem. While it’s important for children to learn at as young as possible how to protect themselves in these cases, it also normalizes the need for such drills. It becomes a regular part of reality in schools, and when people grow up in a society where school shootings are so common that they’re hardly recognized by the media, it teaches younglings that this is something to get used to. As children grow up, they may learn the abnormalities of it, but since it’s so normal, it feels like something they can joke about. School shootings have become as casually joked about as traffic or relationships because they are seen as a part of everyday life.
It’s not just domestic issues either—when the wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Iran began, jokes about “World War III” stormed the internet. While soldiers were out on the battlefield dying for their countries, most of Generation Z were sitting at home making memes like:
But how can people blame them? For most, they didn’t have a say in the government who is making these decisions. For others, they felt their vote didn’t matter. For others, the government won’t listen to their requests. When they have no voice in the decision, can they be blamed for trying to make light of a difficult situation? They have grown up living in a world where they could be shot just for going to school. They have grown up in a world where they are shown violence from age nine. They are so desensitized to violence that their immediate reaction is to make jokes and humor the reality. Furthermore, others may feel like they don’t know how to react or respond, like if they use anything other than humor then they will have to come to terms with the depressing nature of war. Through jokes, people are able to spread messages without actually having to be exposed to violence.
And seeing all the violence in the media and in schools isn’t good for students’ mental health. There’s a clear correlation between viewing violent media and “increased aggressive behaviors and attitudes.” People are used to seeing brutality now that it’s making some think “wow, if they can do it then I can too!” Aggression should not be treated like a normal behavior, and doing so inherently encourages others to pick up the conduct.
Obviously, some jokes do go too far. It is important to highlight the need for humor in dark times while understanding that the very situation that is the butt of one’s person joke is the deadly reality of another’s. These are tragedies. At the same time, desensitizing children to such a horrible and unfortunate aspect of our world will only cause more brutality. It is not Gen Z’s fault for being raised this way, nor is it their fault for what they feel comfortable enough joking about. So what happens when a generation becomes desensitized to violence? The dystopian becomes normal, and everyone jokes about what could become reality without realizing that’s what reality actually is.