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Middle class is over: 40 people share things young Gen Zers aren’t ready to hear

Bored Panda · Jul 14, 2026 19:00 · 8 min read

Middle Class Is Over: 40 People Share Things Young Gen Zers Aren’t Ready To Hear

"You, too, will one day be an embarrassment in the eyes of teens."

Like the millennials before them, Gen Z is now the subject of every well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning thinkpiece about what they are doing wrong. But the fact is that it's still smart to listen to one’s elders and learn from their mistakes, experiences and stories.

Someone asked “What’s something Gen Z isn’t ready to hear?” and people shared their thoughts.

So get comfortable as you read through, if you are in the right category, perhaps take notes, upvote your favorites, and share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

#1

If you're "triggered" by some harmless, normal, everyday thing, to the point you can't function, then it's your job to get therapy. It's not society's job to reshape itself so **you** never experience stress.

#2

Not every bad thing that happens to you is "trauma.".

#3

Other people aren't responsible for your safety or emotional comfort.

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#4

You don't know nearly as much as you think you do.

When you look back at yourself 10 years from now, you'll realize this too.

It happens to everyone.

#5

It's actually not ethical, in most cases, to film and post random strangers. Your friends, with their permission? Sure. Someone on the street, clearly experiencing mental illness issues? Not ok. Goofy children you don't know in a park? Nope. People you're sitting with in the ER? Violation of privacy.

A good rule of thumb would be that if you're not willing to approach the person for permission to film or post (because they would be embarrassed, because they would be mad, or because they would deny permission) then you probably shouldn't be filming them. You aren't entitled to use other people's images for fifteen minutes of tiktok fame.

#6

I'm a part of Gen Z but I have something to add: the amount of disrespect some of us have is just shameful. I was sitting in class yesterday and the teacher was telling some kids to get off their phones RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM and they just continued to ignore her and keep staring at their phones. You can last 1 hour of your life without your phone, put it down and do some work.

#7

Sometimes in life, you gotta do something you really dont want to do. Just buckle up and do it. No one in your life will do it for you.

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#8

Dealing with confrontation and discomfort is a necessary life skill. Not everyone who challenges you and makes you “uncomfortable” through mere argument or disagreement is a bully. If you want to succeed in business or life in general you will need to handle difficult situations. Nobody owes you a “safe space” for your feelings.

#9

Being mentally ill isn't quirky. The entire community around mental illness on tiktok is so anti recovery.

#10

You don’t have to strive to be famous or to go viral. It’s perfectly ok to be average.

#11

That boomers ran the civil rights movement. There's a lot of racist old people don't get me wrong but gen z act like they are the first generation to consider human rights.

Edit: for everyone telling me boomers were only teenagers during civil rights I implore you to go to a protest and notice how many teenagers show up. They don't have to work and they are often the most radical. Teenagers have always been a big part of social movements, y'all just hate boomers because your media has pitted the 2 groups against eachother for fun.

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#12

I’m in gen Z, and I would say that one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s okay to *not* be opinionated. It is far more beneficial to yourself and others if you take time to listen and understand multiple viewpoints instead of seeking to form a concrete opinion.

Along those same lines, it is okay if your opinions change. That shows that you are growing and learning about what you value most in life.

#13

Not everyone is special and sometimes people need to be told they aren't a good person.

#14

“Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”

-George Orwell.

#15

Machine Gun Kelly is a talentless hack and you know it.

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#16

Being gay and/or trans isn't a personality. Sincerely, someone gay and trans.

#17

Guard your privacy AND YOUR KIDS’ PRIVACY. Your children don’t know who they are yet and you’re sharing a bazillion photos and videos and other c**p - or their literal c**p - with the world via internet. Don’t get me started on where convicts with child [content] start their collections… but I’ll give you a hint and it’s abbreviated SM.

The internet is fun and all but consider keeping some of that stuff as personal stuff. LOCK IT DOWN. (I’m looking at you, face scanner for iPhone, allowing apps to track your personal data, and location services). I know none of y’all read books anymore, but I’m sure someone’s talked about 1984 on a podcast.

#18

People aren’t black and white. Everyone has good and bad traits, and no one is perfect.

#19

Get outside. It will do wonders for your anxiety and depression.

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#20

Teenagers should know that it’s ok to feel depressed and heartbroken. It’s okay to feel like everything is out of control and that you should talk about all these feelings to an adult.

#21

We can't all be content creators some of us are gonna have to be plumbers.

#22

Toxic positivity isn't positive.

#23

Middle class is over and doing better than your parents is unlikely.

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#24

Well as a gen z, you (we) are contributing as much (or more) to pollution and waste production than previous generations because of our partaking in the constant cycling of clothing trends and constant use and consuption of new products and technology. With really dirt cheap online shopping probably being more accessible, prevalent and normalized in our generation than any one before, we really won’t realize the damage done before it’s too late. They’re definetely gonna blame us for being the straw that broke the camels back when it comes to the environment in 30-50 years and i shudder to think about it.

#25

Not everything can be solved with a YouTube video.

#26

The “cool” clothing you’re wearing now will look silly in five years.

#27

It's okay to give yourself a break from fighting injustices. I see a lot of gen Z posting about different problems in the world to bring awarenesses to those issues but if you're engulfed in every problem out there, you aren't giving yourself a chance to actually be happy. So it's okay to not know about every issue all the time. Give yourself a break sometimes and just try and have fun.

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#28

Looking through these comments as a Gen Z, you people didn't say anything I haven't heard, so I'll help you out.

Hey, Gen Z, you know all those s****y trends and horrible "pranks" and the cancel culture you follow along with? Yeah, that's gonna stick around FOREVER. Unlike our predecessors, our mistakes can't just be left in the past because they're on the internet.

#29

I know it's sounds Boomer like, but you're way more addicted to the internet than you would admit.

I'm also Gen Z btw.

#30

It's not uncool or irresponsible to be hopeful, joyful, gracious, or to happy with yourself. Take a break from the news and the internet, it's making you too anxious to really *live*. It's cliché, but I mean it! Turn to your community and make change and relationships where you can see them in real life. Let yourself be inspired and don't listen to older grumps who want to yuck your yum just because the world keeps turning.

#31

Trying to establish exactly what kind of victim you are is ultimately not going to get you anywhere.

The seemingly pervasive belief that you are either a victim or an oppressor... so, it's better to be a victim... is false.

We are all victims AND oppressors on some level. It's more important to improve yourself, be a more compassionate person, and focus on the future, than to obsess about how you have been wronged or mistreated.

Move forward. Thinking of yourself as a victim will only hold you back.

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#32

Crypto currency isn’t going to be the future.

#33

Staying inside staring at screens for your entire childhood has made many of you socially inept.

you are trying to learn lessons at 18 that you should have been learning at 12.

#34

Just like harry potter/disney/anime/lolcomic bacon culture millennials, you, too, will one day be an embarrassment in the eyes of teens and anyone else who isn't chronically online. quit seeking the most moral and respectable of interests - just be cringe! be a decent person, but enjoy tiktok, or youtube gamers or cringey music or anime, or whatever. nothing matters! enjoy your hobbies and shed guilt from your guilty pleasures

#35

You're in an echo chamber online.

Not everyone agrees with you.

Some of us just don't want to write our opinions on twitter for fear of abuse because you can't get across nuance and complex topics with a character limit.

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#36

You have to actually work for what you want.

#37

Extremists are who got us to where we are today. Those super dramatic peers of yours are not the leaders. The calm cool and collected that look out for everyone are the people you push to the front to represent you.

#38

The internet is a terrible place to get your world view from . Seriously .

I’ve noticed this especially with teens in the west and how they react to news (most recently American teens) and it’s usually internet hysterics that whip them into an almost delusional frenzy. It’s terrible for your mental health , and its seriously lacking in perspective .

This is not Gen Z specific , but generally for young people time immemorial - when you’re young it’s easy to see everything in absolutes , black and white , if it’s not y its z and that’s that. It’s easy to hold super high morality standards and the internet makes it very easy to get a justice b***r with minimal effort . Trying to get nuance is important .

#39

Go to work.

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#40

That people who have “jobs” are generally happier than those who don’t.

There’s a million ways I’m on the side of a modern Labor movement, but this notion that people would be happier without *any* semi-mandatory need to get out and do something that someone is willing to contribute capital toward has approximately zero correlation with my lived experience.