Keep Running

First off, I'm really excited about the next generation - Generation Z. There's so much talk about Millennials that I think Generation Z has escaped the public eye.. for now. They're incredibly smart, self-aware and are really lucky to be growing up in the time that they are.Really? Now.. during a recession, political unrest, unstable times? Etc. Well.. it's hard for me to personally relate to various generational theories as someone born smack in between Gen X and Gen Y. But I will say that growing up in the 80's, high school in the 90's and entering the work force post dot.com crash meant that the world had great promise. I was fortunate to have missed out on having massive college debt.. but there was still this undertone that us Millennials - or my in-between peers had great promise. That we were going to save the world. Not just be ordinary - but be extraordinary. Beat the system. Excel. Except that other than having Facebook to share and complain - nothing in the world has really changed.

Gender inequality still exists and is a factor that can't be shaken off as those who rule the workforce come from older generations. White men still rule. Many people in power, whether economically or politically, still view those different than them as the "other" - failing to see how the problems of one group of people is a problem for us all. And various groups are still kept down through antiquated, false stereotypes and old unresolved, past battles.

But with this new generation - I believe it's all going to change. A life spent with literally the world at their fingertips has made them more worldly. Instead of pen pals, they literally have a window into someone else's world. In their eyes - will there be an "other?" They have little to stop them in whatever their endeavors. Do they want to code? They can look up a free video or website on how to do it? Become a photographer - download a $2 photo editing app? Learn a new language? The possibilities are endless. They're reaping what we've sowed - the free information that we've created. The insistence on gender neutral toys. The changing perceptions of what it means to eat healthy. What it even means to get an education.

I'm really excited about what's ahead.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs]

Faith In Humanity Restored: Cheerios

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VifdBFp5pnw]As a stark contrast to my last post, I thought I'd end the week with something a bit more positive. I'm sure you've all seen this by now. It's an interview with kids - about 6 to 13 years old, regarding their thoughts on the controversial Cheerios commercial that was aired with a mixed race couple. Spoiler: the kids had absolutely no idea that people could be against mixed race couples. Once they were made aware of the negative comments via the YouTube video, they were completely outraged and thought anyone who would spend their time spewing racial hate, was a loser and should be banned from YouTube.

I love when interviews of a random sampling brings more color to a quantitative study that's already been done. Back in April 2012, JWT published a report, Gen Z: Digital In Their DNA. While the report focused on the digital habits of Gen Z, it's findings show that their digital habits might explain their worldview. I've always found fault with separating digital strategy with account planning. As planners, we have an obligation to understand how digital technology effects our very being and we should use digital tools to gain these insights. Thanks to the ubiquity of experiencing life through Instagram, we now all have constant FOMO - a term coined in the mid-80's but only now coming into common use. Parents are cautioned against giving their children too much iPad screen time for fear it will effect their cognitive abilities and make them more prone to ADD. And on the more positive side, children can now use digital to gain a more personal view of their counterparts from around the world through social media - way more revealing than the hand written pen-pal letters of the past. Without barriers such as geography or even social exclusion, children have learned that the kid on the other side of the world might have a different reality, but at their core, they are dealing with some of the same set of problems. They can no longer be taught to fear "the other." In fact, JWT found that:

"One consequence of this hyper-connectedness will be Gen Z’s multicultural and globally oriented mindset—much like Millennials but further amplified. Kids are Skyping with peers on the other side of the globe, and they’re taking part in initiatives like the Face to Faith program (part of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation), which uses technology to connect students of different religions and cultures. Expect even more linguistic and cultural borrowings and consistencies across distant nations and regions."

So as us New Yorkers deal with the extreme heat, still reeling from some of the sadder and maddening news that started off the week, we can find comfort in the knowledge that there's reason to be optimistic about our global future.