Generation Z: Their Voices, Their Lives

by Chloe Combi

Generation Z have never had to save their pocket money to buy an album. They laugh when you tell them there used to be four channels on TV. Not many of them have grandparents that fought in a war. They've never known a world without the internet and have grown up with violence and porn at their fingertips with an object barely known to just one generation before them: a mobile phone.


Generation Z are growing up in a world of widening social inequality, political apathy and economic uncertainty. They join gangs, are obese, have underage sex, drink, commit crime and are a menace to society - or so the media leads us to believe.

Chloe Combi has interviewed hundreds of teenagers and children born between 1994 and 2005. She has talked to some of the richest and poorest in kids in the country. She has travelled on night buses with gangs, gone on a post-GCSE trip to Glastonbury, hung out in crack houses where teenagers get high, rehabilation centres where they get help and churches where they find God.


Chloe has found that Generation Z are selfish, violent, scared, sex-obsessed and apathetic. She has also found them delightful, curious, kind, and worried about their futures.


Generation Z is an emotional, illuminating, sometimes dark, sometimes hilarious odyssey through the lives of this generation told in their own voices.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2015

Reviews

[Martin Spellman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has been said that the problem with youth is that it is wasted on the young. Chloe Combi is a journalist who writes on youth issues and a former school teacher. The book is comprised of statements from interviews she has carried out grouped into eleven categories: family; relationships; body; sex; school; race; gender; technology; class; crime and 'looking to the future and advice to the next generation'. Many of the interviews would fit into several of these categories. She says: 'One of the problems teenagers face is that they feel they are living in a world that doesn't understand them. Many feel ignored, unheard and disenfranchised. Some parents feel that they barely know their teenager and the world they live in.' But this has been true of every generation since the First World War at least -- it is the problem of modernity.
'Generation Z' is a bit of a misnomer as technically they are actually 'late generation Y'. Her interviewees were born between 1995 and 2001 when for Generation Z they should be born after 2005. The famous 'Generation X' or 'MTV Generation', popularised in the 1991 Douglas Coupland novelGeneration X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, although the term was coined by photographer Robert Capa in a series he did for magazines. They were born between 1965 and 1984 and 4000 people were surveyed each year. 'Generation Y' or 'the Millenials' were born from 1982 - 2002. Then comes 'Generation Z', 'the iGeneration' or 'the Plurals'.
Combi says her book is intended as 'an accurate snapshot of teenage life' although we do not learn how many interviews she undertook to compile it. While the social and educational background is given for each quote there is no overall analysis. The categories are fairly imprecise and there is no index. So while she says 'I hope it will be a conversation starter between teenagers and adults' it is hard to see who will read this book or will learn much from it.
Sadly, much of it is banal and predictable. Some of them seem to have led cloistered lives so far. One 16 year-old girl says: 'So even though my parents probably earn about £80,000 between them a year, that's nothing like enough to cover the three of us'. Another sets her sights on becoming a millionaire by 19 through selling on eBay. Two 13-y-o twins seem to from Yorkshire seem to have learned about London from the columns of the Daily Mail as did another from rural Norfolk. What is the use of commenting about places you have never been to, or will never go to, come to that? Priti, an Indian girl from North West London says 'No one ventures very far and it is like a little bubble. A mostly poor bubble. I have friends my own age who live where I do and have never actually been to proper central London. Like the Tate Gallery, or the British Museum, or the West End. It is so stupid. And sad.'
What struck me was that many of the immigrant and Muslim teenagers seemed to be more aware of the failings of patriarchal and traditional societies in coping with modern life than the indigenous Brits. An Iranian woman from Sheffield said: 'I think there is something very cowardly about headscarves and especially burkas. It is forcing the women to wear these symbols of the Islamic world, which say very clearly they are neither to be trusted, nor fit to be looked at.' Yet a 16-y-o lad from Solihull seems to have absorbed all the twisted narrative of his UKIP-BNP supporting family. It would be more interesting for someone from that background to have rejected those views. Likewise Oscar from Eton who wants 'three strikes and your out' and people banged up and deported. Although an 18-y-o from a rich and titled family walked away from his home: 'I'd rather be poor.'
Some of the comments are quite astute. Eddie and Kieran do not want thankless jobs. 'Kieran: ...I don't want to end up in McDonald's. And if you go legit, that's all that seems to be on offer. Eddie: Or Shoe Zone. Kieran: Fuck Shoe Zone. People put that in places to let you know you are poor. Nobody would even rob that place.'
Maisie from Oxford says: 'My fear is I'll go to Manchester and spend most of those three years working at Costa and missing out on the good stuff anyway. And then end up working in Costa afterwards.'
It would be interesting if a follow-up book was done in 10 years time with the same people to see how their lives have turned out. As Picasso said: 'It takes a long time to become young.'

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my lecturers for this semester recommended this book to me, and as soon as I read the forward I knew I had to read it. The book is composed by a series of interviews carried out by the author with several kids in Generation Z (born 1995- 2001). The interviews are all written out in first person and separated into categories which make up the 10 chapters of the book (Family, body, relationships, sex ect.). There are stories in this book that made me laugh, some that made me furious and some that very nearly reduced me to tears. It's such an important book as it allows us to take the perspective of children our age on so many different issues and realize how different they can be depending on upbringing and origin. I finished this book feeling very lucky and grateful for the life i've lived so far but also gained a different outlooks on issues that I used to think were very clearly either right or wrong with no grey area. But when you get to know some of the stories behind these kid's opinions you realize that if you've been struggling to eat day to day then maybe worldwide issues that matter to us won't to them. 100% recommend.

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been interested in reading 'Generation Z' since I met Chloe Combi back in August. I thought it was brilliant that an adult was taking the time to interview a broad range of teenagers (a variety of races, genders, sexualities and classes) about a wide selection of topics.
It would have been better if there had been more viewpoints from lesbian teenagers - only one contributes, and she only says a couple of sentences - or from asexual or bisexual teenagers, as neither of those sexualities are represented and I'm sure that there are a good percentage of them to be found in UK.
Other than this quibble, I did enjoy 'Generation Z'. I could relate to a lot of the quotes, but some of them tore my heart out - particularly the sections told by teenagers who are persecuted because of their race, or who live upon estates and have money struggles. I've always been very comfortable, so reading real people talking about their real struggles is very brave of them to do.
If you're part of Generation Z, this is definitely a book you should check out.

[Eszter Faatima Sabiq · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book delivers what it promises: it gives you an insight into the lives, experience, feelings and thoughts of teenagers in Britain, from various different classes, ethnicities, cultures, schools, and backgrounds. The order of the stories emphsise contrast at points and bridges differences elsewhere. Might be an eye-opener for many adults, and a valuable read for every parent.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a parent of three late Gen Zers (so, younger than the teens in this book) this is interesting and eye opening reading. When I first began reading, I thought the challenges faced by the teens in this book, while very real and important, were barely discernible from problems faced by those of my generation (Gen X) or my sister's generation (the Millenials), for example: eating disorders; loss of loved ones; divorce; family violence; addictions; class inequality etc. but then I reached the sections on relationships and technology and that is, of course, where everything changes.

While some of the youngsters in this book express how terrible it would be to live without 24 hour access to the internet, I remain grateful that I grew up at a time when you could act out and make mistakes fairly secure in the knowledge that it wasn't being recorded, only to be shared around with friends, classmates and strangers alike. That's one thing, but 17 year old boys casually watching rape porn together? Scary. The way some of the boys talk about females in these interviews is highly unpleasant and no wonder, if this is what they are watching. Then you've got female peers of these very same boys stating we don't need feminism because they've learnt from their parents, peers, or the media that feminism is divisive and all about special rights for females.

The stuff on racial inequality is too sad, especially reading Martin Luther's Kings 'Why We Can't Wait' at the same time. This book is set in the UK, not the US, but still, kids getting pulled off their bikes and harassed by police for no reason other than the colour of their skin shouldn't be happening in the 21st century (not that it ever should have been happening in the 20th century either but the lack of social progress is truly appalling). Then of course there is racism exacerbated by the fear of terrorism. Police being called on a Muslim boy taking his sister's diabetes medication to her in her My Little Pony bag (if I remember the details correctly) because other public transport passengers thought he might be carrying a bomb. Crazy.

But there's lots of hope here too as friends and partners of different genders/races/religions/sexual orientation discover that their similarities are more important than their differences, which is something I have read elsewhere about this generation, that in general they are tolerant and empathetic. This would be a natural consequence of globalisation and social progress such as same sex marriage etc and I would like to believe this, yet all the stories of bullying (and incidences of bullying I have heard about in my own children's social circles, plus the extreme cases that make the news) make me wonder ...

You do have to have hope though, and most of the teens in this book come across as good kids who are just trying to make sense of this mad world they've inherited, just like those generations who came before. Giving these young people a platform to share their experiences is a great thing and if you work with older children or adolescents, or are a parent of older children or adolescents, its worth reading, just beware, this is not all light reading and its not meant to be. I read someone here saying she wishes someone had handed her this book at 13 but I'm not recommending it to my 13 year old, I think it would be somewhat intimidating for her, and while there's no doubt something in here for every (older) teen to relate to, it's probably not a book you'd want to hand to someone who is anxious or depressed about the state of the world either.

[Martha Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books are meant to be kept. Some books you will move house with and ensure they stay standing on your bookshelf forever. But some books - this one - must be passed around, shared, posted, read aloud, borrowed, given away, tweeted and quoted. I wish someone gave me this book when I was 13. It would have saved a lot of hassle.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was way more powerful than I thought it’d be, though should be littered with trigger warnings. Some of the stories are A Lot.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like eating an unseasoned hard-boiled egg
The premise of this book is fantastic. It is also the very base for any form of qualitative research: gather a large group of individuals which all fit under a specific category and gather information regarding their opinions or experiences on a specific topic. What Combi tries to do in this book, is to gather many young adults and exhibit their perspectives on topics such as family, race, gender, sex, etc. Having this kind of testimony in a book form, would be an amazing form of literature to educate the audience on different perspectives of the world. It would allow readers to gain a broader understanding of how the younger generation perceives the world. So, while the premise is fantastic and would be very useful for a reader to receive, it is horribly executed.
First of all, the topic is insanely generalized. It is definitely not a recounting of life experiences of generation Z. Generation Z is meant to be anyone born between 1997 and 2012. Written in 2015, to capture the whole generation, the book would have needed to include 3-year-olds to the population. Generation Z is a whole big generation that cannot be limited to those born between 1997 and 2002. It is ridiculous to claim that you are speaking on behalf of a whole generation while only taking into consideration a small section of it. On top of that, the book only includes those teenagers who live in England. As a 2002, I can state for a fact that nothing of what they were saying in the book resonated at all with me and with any of my experiences. I found it almost painful to read the dialogues portrayed. Life is definitely not like that. It is not like that now, and it was not like that in 2015, for me or anyone I have met in my life. It is very culturally limited to the experiences in the UK. If the book were called “Teens in the UK”, that would have not been a problem, but if this book is meant to represent my entire generation’s perception of the world… I won’t stand for it. I will have to give it to the author, though, as she did pick a very broad population sample.
While it was an interesting read, I did not like the general ideas of the book. I feel like most topics were highly outdated, and especially in talking of such sensitive topics of race and gender, or feminism and sex, there have been such major socio-cultural developments in the past 5 years, and our generation was at the very base of all that. We have protested and fought to change so much on power dynamics and kindness and acceptance. And while it is not all generalizable or effective, I doubt there is anyone of Generation Z who will read this book and say “hell yes, this is exactly how I think!”.
I also find that the writing style is very rushed. I noticed many cases in which the sentences were missing entire words, making the sentence structure feel incomplete and wrong. The book is based on transcribing these people’s told experiences, and I doubt those mistakes were also present in the spoken version. It made the book feel rushed and not well constructed.
So, yes.
I did not like it.
As I already mentioned, I admire the premise, and the initial thought put into it. But its too generalized and could be very harmful in present-day environments for our entire generation. If it is meant to show older generations how we think, it would not end well. It would create stigma and insane misunderstandings. Authors and publishing houses should pay more attention to the social, cultural, and individual effect that their books cause.

[Trevor P. Kwain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am afraid this was quite a pointless book, lacking depth and methodology. I was expecting a better explanation of Gen Z with some reflections on the socio-demographic composition rather than a collection of written interviews from different teenagers without any analysis or background or reference. The way the teenagers have been selected is not even mentioned, and most chapters do not tell you something new or different that every teenager in every generation has experienced. While I stopped after reading 25% of it, I did skip to read two chapters which I thought would be worth having a look: "Sex" and "Technology", of which the latter was useful because tech does change. Not an excellent book though, in my opinion.

[Steph Bennion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been dipping in and out of this book for more than a year. It's a fantastic (and sobering) account of the UK as seen through eyes far younger than mine, a collection of personal stories that brought forth a whole range of emotions. There's a quote on the back cover from Boris Johnson (Mayor of London when this was published), though judging by the Tory party record on the issues raised by the interviewees I'm guessing few in his party have read it. This book should be required reading for anyone involved in youth policy in the UK today.

[sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book, exploring multiple races, identities and opinions of Gen Z. Although, already slightly old (teenagers have changed considerably in the 5 years since this book was published due to the evolving internet) it is still a worthwhile read and has some very emotional parts.

[Katherine Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought provoking insight into the contrasting lives and opinions of different teenagers from across the UK.

[Timothea Moylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally write reviews, but I couldn't help doing so for Generation Z. At times, the voices in this book made me cry so much or laugh so hard that I had to put it down. Combi juxtaposes the range of interviews wonderfully. On one page, my heart would open, and on the next, I'd want to strangle the speaker. Some of the stories are heartbreaking; others heartwarming. A discussion with the daughter of a multi-millionaire is followed by a discussion with a young girl whose family was saved by food banks.

The book immerses the reader in the lives of young people from varied cultures, families, and socio-ecoonomic backgrounds, providing great perspective. While the chapter on Technology is pretty depressing, the Generation Z-ers involved are earnest and often incredibly insightful. No story or individual is trivialised - the collection of discussions shows that everyone has their own hopes and dreams and struggles in very different ways.

[Deanna Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutally honest portrait of modern day youth, Combi omits nothing. You want to know what teens these days are like? This book has you covered.
This book truly opened my eyes to a wildly diverse world of people. People of different race, class and circumstance. These are voices that need to be heard.

[Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Generation Z' is a brutally honest collection of the everyday lives of the late millenials (defined by Combi as anybody born between 1995 and 2001). There were a wide range of accounts from a varied pool of teenagers - different cultures, religions, sexualities, social classes, etc - across multiple topics - sex, gender, body, technology, home - with both positive and negative standpoints. Some made me actually laugh out loud, some had me on the verge of tears, and considering I was reading the majority of this on the train, that's saying something.

However, the reason I only rated this 3 stars is because the book became rather repetitive. However much the accounts were diverse, it became slightly tedious to read all these different interviews. Combi gives a rather impassioned opening foreword (even if I found the first paragraph slightly patronising) yet her voice is pretty absent from the novel. Even though I appreciated the predominant first person accounts of these teenagers, I wanted to know more about Combi - how these stories affected her, how she found these teenagers etc. That would have broken up the book, and made it feel less repetitive.

If you want to know what the current generation is thinking, 'Generation Z' is a solid place to start.

[Tuffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because I work with young people entering the workplace. It was interesting to read a broad range of perspectives and viewpoints. It is heartbreaking and humbling just how difficult some young people's lives are and at different points I found myself crying, willing them on and hoping that their lives get better and easier. You can never imagine what someone else's life is really like.

To score it higher, I would have liked some kind of analysis and discussion as well as the stories.