A Teacher Shares 3 Strange Examples Of Gen Z 'Etiquette' & 'Respect' That Seem Pretty Rude At First
They're certainly not conventional, but they make a lot of sense when you think about them.
Jacob Lund / Shutterstock There's no doubt about it, Gen Zers have grown up in an entirely different world than even the youngest millennials.
And as a high school teacher recently shared, it's had an impact on them, including the way they approach certain social situations.
The teacher shared 3 examples of Gen Z 'etiquette' that seem kind of rude at first, but actually make a lot of sense.
People love to criticize Gen Zers as coddled, entitled, and obsessed with their own egos, which many attribute to their obsession — some say addiction — to their cell phones and social media.
Especially now that they've entered, and in many ways, disrupted, the workforce; they're often accused of lacking basic social skills and respect for others that the older among us take for granted, because of the entirely different internet-centered world they've grown up in.
But for high school teacher and TikToker @misswhitebio, her experience with Gen Zers, as well as Gen Alphas, has left her feeling like this is more of a misconception than a reality. She's identified three examples of how Gen Z shows respect that may seem foreign to the rest of us, at first.
1. They step away whenever you open anything on your phone or computer that might be personal.
This is especially true of the photos on your phone. "They will look away if a photo album is being opened," Miss White said. "I had to show a kid an example photo today and as soon as my finger started hovering over that app, he took five full steps backward."
This could seem judgmental, of course, until you give it some thought. Most of us nowadays have, um … well, let's just say photos on our phones we don't want anyone but our partners to see.
Young people have never really lived in a world where this wasn't the case, so they reflexively give you a respectful berth whenever you open your photos, just in case.
"I’m an older Gen Z and the photo album thing is so real," one commenter wrote, while another described how her "boss was pulling up a photo of her vacation and I didn’t even think about it, I took several steps back." A bit rude-seeming to us olds, maybe, but ultimately very respectful of boundaries!
2. They ask permission before engaging in 'bad behavior.'
You know that old saying "I'd rather ask forgiveness than permission?" Not Gen Zers, apparently. Miss White said her students constantly ask permission, but crucially, they don't really pay much attention to the answer.
"This does not mean they're not going to do the bad behavior," Miss White quipped, "but they will just give you a warning that it's happening."
As an example, she described students who said, "Hey, Miss White, can I cuss real quick?" or "Hey, Miss White, can I be mad disrespectful to you right now?" And though she always said no, they often expressed themselves freely anyway. "But they will ask first," she said.
She theorized that this "warning" was a sign of respect. As one commenter put it, "The asking permission sounds to me like they are communicating their emotional state before letting loose," saying it demonstrated "amazing emotional intelligence to be honest."
It's hard to argue with that. They get to cuss and you get not to be shocked — a win-win!
3. If there are snacks, you must share them.
Photo: Dobrila Vignjevic from Getty Images Signature / Canva Pro
Now there's no arguing with this one. This is just downright lovely. Miss White theorized that this "comes from the idea of being asked do you have enough to share with the whole class?" For most of us older people, this meant just not bringing snacks at all. But Gen Z turned the lesson on its head.
"They took that and they said 'I do have enough to share with the whole class. If everyone takes half a bite, we can all have these goldfish'" White said. "I don't think in the past three years I've seen a kid open up a snack bag and not give it to the five kids sitting around them."
Gen Zers in Miss White's comments definitely agreed. "I’m older Gen Z and continued bringing cupcakes for my birthday through senior year," one wrote. "It would feel wrong to not share with everyone."
And some added to Miss White's list, like a commenter who mentioned that "if a Gen Z kid sends u super casual emails (no name, minimal punctuation/capitalization) it means they trust u/consider u a friend."This is definitely a good thing to know for those of us who might take the informality as a sign of disrespect.
"It's so cool how etiquette evolves and creates these little micro-customs," another commenter added, and Miss White agreed, saying they're "not bad, just different!"
But you can certainly argue that they're not just different, but actually better. As people online like to say, it seems like Gen Z is "built different," and ultimately, that's a good thing.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.