Generation Z: Making a Difference Their Way | Corey Seemiller | TEDxDayton

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] summer break was finally over and like every fall semester my classroom was filled with eager first-year students excited to start college I walked up to the front of the room ready to offer what I thought would be a profound educational experience for these young minds class seemed to be going as planned attendance done my witty introduction complete and then on to the syllabus but what I didn't know is that I was about to go down a path that would open my eyes to a whole new way of thinking it happened when I was discussing the ten hours of community service required for the course now my former students love to be able to earn credit for volunteering but this group didn't seem as excited it wasn't their overall lack of enthusiasm that caught me off guard it was one question from a student a clarification question that really challenged me the student raised her hand and asked if she could count the hours that she spends running her nonprofit organization toward the ten hours required for the course well I was a bit taken aback and without having anything better to say I said of course and anyone else running a non-profit you can use those hours two heads nodded at that moment I realized that these 17 and 18 year olds were already making a difference in their communities in larger ways than I ever expected and my ten hour community service assignment was likely not going to be the transformative experience I imagined these students were craving opportunities for longer deeper involvement where they could work towards creating meaningful change then it made sense to me I had learned over the summer that a new group of students was coming to college that year generation Z the post millennial generation well it was obvious they had arrived and they had their own ideas about how they wanted to make the world a better place that was four years ago and most of those students graduated this last spring now our colleges high schools and elementary schools are filled with seven to 22 year olds all part of generation Z these young people are growing up in an incredibly unique time in history we have driverless cars personalized medicine and Wars without borders most have used tablets and smartphones nearly their entire lives having spent countless hours of their teen years texting and posting and streaming and surfing and linking and liking and pinning and poking and tweeting and blogging and friending and sharing and they do even more of it as young adults but Generation Z is far more than a reflection of their digital behavior consider this on 911 the oldest drawer in kindergarten and most weren't even born yet for them growing up in a post-911 world can feel scary and unsafe their childhoods have also been marked by a major recession where families lost homes and parents lost their jobs these events likely shaped the values and characteristics of Generation Z as many tend to be pragmatic and inventive filled with a great sense of responsibility and compassion well not everyone in generation Z fits this mold research on this cohort suggests some key trends about the concerns motivations and aspirations of many of them as they enter into young adulthood so thinking back to my community service assignment I realized something significant about this generation many of those in generations you don't come out on their own to participate in community service not because they don't want to contribute but because their way of contributing is different instead of volunteering many would rather tackle the very problems causing the need for volunteering essentially making volunteerism unnecessary altogether take an issue like hunger in their minds although they know the importance of volunteering at a food bank many would rather use their time energy and resources to work towards creating a sustainable solution that ensures everyone has access to enough healthy food but it isn't just our system of volunteerism that doesn't seem to be working for them it's also our political system when the 2016 presidential election came around I was hoping that my socially conscious generation Z students would flock to the polls but they didn't at least not a lot of them as evidenced by polling data now you'd traditionally vote at lower rates and their older counterparts but with so many in Generation Z who want to make an impact why didn't more of them vote do we not provide enough rides or polling places on college campuses surely increasing access is important but it turns out the issue is much deeper those in Generation Z are weary of the whole political system as it stands many are concerned that corruption and greed and partisanship are making it nearly impossible to address important issues one jens e'er says it best we can tackle the biggest problems our society faces if we care less about how people identify and move past problems like which bathrooms should they use and instead focus on issues like how can we conserve water instead bathrooms and if their skepticism of the system isn't enough feeling unrepresented by any political party might just be many in generations the identify as socially liberal yet financially moderate to conservative which doesn't seem to fit with either mainstream party or even an existing third party so while we should keep motivating them to vote like volunteerism the cure for their disengagement is not simply trying to re-engage them in a system that doesn't seem to work for them we need to embrace these young change agents even when they challenge the very systems that many of us have worked so hard to build and maintain because maybe Generation Z can do it better making social change the new volunteerism or to party politics a thing of the past but what's interesting is that not only are they disrupting these systems at the same time they're working right around them finding other ways to make a difference for one generation Z embodies a great entrepreneurial spirit nearly half of them planned to start their own businesses in the future but being an entrepreneur is more than just about being their own bosses or taking control of their career paths it's a way to leverage their passions to create social change see a problem create a business and work towards a solution and they're not trying to create the next mega company many would just like to have a small business that focuses on an issue that they care about because for them making a difference is far more important than making money one gens ear says I want to help others and impact them for the better clearly I will need to financially support myself but that's not why my heart will be in it like the founder of me and the beaze lemonade who launched her own company after entering a children's business competition at age 4 but her business is more than just about selling lemonade by donating a portion of her profits to help save the honeybees for her it's a way to make a difference and then consider that nearly 40% of those in generation Z intend to change the by developing an invention well that's an ambition we can all be inspired by but like entrepreneurship they're not necessarily looking for fame and fortune they want to design and build new technologies to address the issues they care about and solve the world's complex problems like a group of high school students in Australia when they learned that the price of a critical anti-malaria drug went from 1350 a pill to 750 dollars in the u.s. they recreated the drugs key ingredient at a much lower cost right in their school lab and well they're likely not going to be able to sell this drug anytime in the US the inventive spirit of these teenagers just shows that this isn't a generation that's going to sit back and wait for others to develop a solution Generation Z is that rare generation position at a time when I believe we need the most challenging our systems and unexpected ways and despite our hesitancy and well maybe even fears we need to embrace their desire for change and cultivate their passions because having them do it their way may be exactly what will save us all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 253,039

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Education, Entrepreneurship, Social Change, Youth

Id: cN0hyudK7nE

Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/k-w-]

dude I literally just posted this last week