Millennial Mom Reveals 6 'Lazy' Gen-Z Habits That Drive Her Absolutely Bonkers
Am I an irritable geriatric millennial — or are these Gen-Z behaviors irritating?
Timur Weber | Canva As a single mother of two young children, I rely heavily on babysitters to help me keep my life afloat. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I was forced to fire a sitter who spent her nights renting $30 worth of movies in my living room, and inviting 6 to 7 friends over after my kids went to bed (which she insists wasn't a party).
Sinking into my couch in utter frustration, I started thinking about how spending 20 minutes with my Gen-Z babysitter was like taking care of an untrained puppy. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, unable to hold a complete conversation, and I'm pretty sure she didn't understand how to use our microwave.
Millennial mom reveals the Gen-Z habits that drive her absolutely bonkers:
1. Using fake words and abbreviations
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While linguists across the country are at war over introducing "fake" words to our dictionaries and the expectations of an evolving language, I'm going to join whatever side agrees that it would just be too strange for the babysitter of my kids to come up to me and say, 'No cap, this sandwich is bussin’' or 'I'm amped about my drip today.'
We live in a fast-paced world, and sometimes, this can even mean putting off writing complete sentences with perfect grammar. Instead, research by Singapore General Hospital found that communicating using shorthand or abbreviations seems like the go-to these days, particularly among Gen-Z.
2. Relying on autocorrect
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Speaking of typing, who even needs to know how to do that anymore? Gen-Z doesn't need to know how to spell or even how to correctly use punctuation; Microsoft Word will tidy up that document for them.
And if they can't remember how to spell a word, autocorrect is all over that. And if they are too lazy to even go that far, voice text can handle everything just fine.
3. Not learning cursive
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Who needs to be able to read the original constitution when you can simply email it to yourself in a PDF format? No one, says the 45 states across America that have dropped cursive writing from the curriculum.
With more people typing than writing, schools simply feel that the writing style is irrelevant in today's world, and while I can't really argue otherwise, it just seems wrong to not be able to read our country's founding documents.
Due to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in 2010, which did not explicitly include cursive writing, most schools across the United States no longer actively teach cursive writing as part of their standard curriculum.
This has led to a decline in the practice among students. However, some states are now reintroducing mandatory cursive instruction.
4. Wanting undeserved respect
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Instead of teaching our teens to be proud of who they are and give the world a reason to respect them, we've taught them that they deserve respect for whatever they want to do. The way I see it: Respect is earned, not an automatic given.
5. Idolizing people on social media
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Do you know who the most influential people in the world are? Whoever the younger generation latches onto. Forget college, if you want to make an impact on the world, get the most followers on TikTok.
Teenagers often idolize people, particularly celebrities, as part of their natural developmental process of identity formation.
A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Adolescence and Youth found that they actively seek role models to emulate and guide their self-perception, often drawn to their idols' perceived glamour, success, and positive traits. This can provide a sense of inspiration and direction during a time of significant personal change.
6. Using iPhone apps to learn basic life skills
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Why learn adult skills when there's already an app for that? From learning to read a map, calculate a tip, plan a schedule, plan your meals, or even figure out why a baby is crying, Gen-Z know they don't need to learn basic life skills because there's an app for that.
Back in my day, you needed to learn a core skill or two to survive in life. These days you just need to know how to connect to Wifi.
Eden Strong is a regular contributor to a variety of digital outlets, including Lifetime Moms, XOJane, Scary Mommy, Catster, and Dogster.