THE period of adolescence can be exciting and confusing all at the same time. As we enter into our teenage years, we encounter a whole new spectrum of emotions. Every experience and every conversation that we have is intensified with a new layer of meanings and feelings. While this emotional development can be quite thrilling, it may also feel a little isolating. It is easy to share our thoughts, but it can feel quite impossible to describe our emotions to someone else, especially if we are experiencing them for the first time. However, we do gradually grow up, and we learn to manage our emotions and connect with each other in a healthy way.

Now, imagine that this entire process of discovering new emotions and relating to each other was done within the tiny social limits of your own home or your room. Imagine that an entire generation was made to experience vital parts of their emotional growth without being allowed to socialise. What would the result be?

The result may perhaps be something quite similar to Gen Z.

The pandemic that we recently experienced caused many changes in the world, some of which were positive, while most were negative. Some of the footprints that the pandemic left are still quite visible in different aspects of the world today. One such very significant footprint lies in the social and emotional connections of our younger generations. It seems as if Gen Z is perpetually stuck in a state of social distancing when it comes to sharing emotions. While it is easy to label the generation as being apathetic and unempathetic, there may be deeper reasons for the way it behaves. Perhaps because they were not given an outlet to learn how to express their emotions during a crucial part of their growth, they stopped trying to express them at all.

On the other hand, they may have also begun to rely on social media and the internet to express their emotions to the point that they cannot communicate effectively in a face-to-face setting. Today, we may encounter several younger individuals who are quiet or shy during a face-to-face conversation but who are quite expressive and extroverted while communicating through social media. In fact, if given an option, they may prefer to communicate solely through their devices simply because it was the only space that they were able to use while they were developing their social skills.

These changes in the younger generation are not entirely negative. The ability to communicate and connect through online platforms can be quite beneficial in the current modern era. However, being able to communicate online while not being able to do so in the physical world can pose an actual problem in the way we form relationships and in the way we express feelings of compassion or empathy. After all, how can our generation inherit the world if it is not even capable of connecting with the people who live in it?

Skills like listening to each other and communicating with compassion may seem natural. They are, however, learned with practice, just like any other skill. Although it may seem like social distancing has made irreversible dents in the process of growth in the younger generations, it was truly only a small hurdle. If we are able to help the younger generation regain the skills they may have lost or failed to develop, we may have a generation that is extremely efficient in communicating and showing empathy not just in the physical part of our world, but also in the digital side.

If all of our burdens were meant to be carried alone, they would not be so heavy. If all of our joys were meant to be experienced alone, they would not be so deep. Human beings are meant to be connected with each other. In the same way that we share information and news, we are also meant to share love, joy and sorrows. We have already learned to connect with people digitally; now it is time for us to relearn this skill in the physical part of the world. Sometimes, the warmth of a genuine smile and the affection in a real hug are simply too beautiful to be replicated through any form of technology.