Generation Gaps
Growing up, we were called the Born Free generation; kids born in an independent Zimbabwe. Sounds flattering, right? Like we were superheroes with freedom as our superpower. But honestly, it felt more like a backhanded compliment. The older folks basically meant: You lot had it easy, never witnessed the indignities that came with colonisation, nor the atrocities that came with the liberation struggle and simply took freedom for granted.
People have this way of measuring one’s character against the hardships one has had to endure, rather like how the older generation will remind you of everything they went through and how easy you’ve had it by comparison.
Having lived through two distinct eras, I can see how easy it is for Gen Z, particularly the ama2K generation, who grew up in a world of smartphones and social media, who could navigate touchscreen controls before they could even talk, raised by parents with softer parenting techniques, to seem somewhat not fully formed to those who grew up in stricter times, under the philosophy of spare the rod and spoil the child. Though those same people will claim to have turned out just fine… did they really?
I was 16 when I first saw a computer in real life. You had to complete a computer course for an ICDL (International Computer Driving Licence) Certificate before they even let you touch a machine in the school computer lab.
And then there is my niece, who can barely speak, yet she can open my laptop, launch YouTube, and navigate straight to music from K-Pop Demon Hunters. I mean, they are catchy songs, won awards and everything, but when I was her age, I was outside making vroom vroom noises while pushing bricks along the ground, pretending they were toy cars.
You got to watch one, maybe two cartoons if you are lucky, when the television started broadcasting at 4pm, with none of this business of watching whatever you want at any time of the day.
Have you ever:
If you got a point for everything you have done, how much do you end up with?
Leave a Reply