Dear Generation X, please stop blaming your kids’ generation for the world’s problems.

Generation Z is made up of people from 13 to 28 years old. Most people in college right now are right in the middle of that range. Despite what people 44 to 60 may say, they’re not destined to ruin the world, nor are they special snowflakes who can’t handle hard things. Young people aren’t soft; the world is just less hospitable. 

Young adults are living with their parents for good reason: Since 1973, home prices have risen about 1,045 percent, and rent around 54 percent. It’s not just housing that has gotten more expensive; college tuition is 158 percent higher. The cost of living is so much steeper for the younger generation. Financial independence seems to be much less assured than it was a few decades ago.

Well, maybe it’s all because of that dang phone. No, really, this argument isn’t entirely wrong. Gen X didn’t grow up with a phone in their pocket the way Gen Z did. Much of the younger generation has always had technology at their fingertips that their parents barely understood. Of course it changed their views on the world. These were developments that transformed our world – it follows that the people in the world transformed right along with it. 

Generation Z was raised in a digital age. They’re more interconnected across greater distances and more aware of what’s going on outside of their own communities. But they’re also surrounded by constant conflict. The internet can be a very unforgiving place. Between cancel culture and a flood of misinformation, this new generation has to contend with a vastly different social environment than their predecessors.

This isn’t to say that young people are totally innocent. On the contrary, it would be a mistake to play the victim in this situation. There’s no point in pitting older people versus younger people. In an increasingly polarized world, every person should strive to be the best version of themselves. Teens and young adults, prove your parents wrong. Seasoned adults have some grace for the people living in the world you gave them. Only when the fighting stops can the healing begin.

Generation X, you might remember reading “The Little Engine that Could” as vividly as Generation Z remembers listening to it. The Little Engine didn’t get anywhere by saying, “I can’t.” He certainly didn’t get anywhere by saying, “I can’t because the younger engines are going to ruin the tracks.”

Okay, maybe the metaphor got a little lost, but the sentiment still stands. If you act like the world is doomed, then it will be doomed. The only way that things will get better is by making them better. 

Trains are built differently because times change. Human beings are the same way. Instead of lamenting those differences in construction, keep chugging up that slope. If you drag each other down, no one will make it up the hill. Actually, forget the analogy. Pointing fingers doesn’t breed empathy, and yelling at the sky doesn’t fix climate change. Today’s world can be a hostile place, especially for those who are just starting to attempt to find their place in it.

Regardless of which generation you are from, or who actually caused the issues in our current world, consider this: maybe all generations should stop arguing and just try to actually fix the problems in front of them.