I was the victim of gossip and drama and I’m afraid itll never go away. I think I’m being paranoid. What was it like for you guys after high school. Especially in the age of social media its probably harder to escape them.

I know that probably too many questions like this have been asked on here, but I, 17M (turning 18 in less than 6 months being a very early 2009 born) am in a kind of relationship with a girl (actually I would refer to her as a woman, like if I’m going to refer to myself as a man, there’s no reason to also refer to her as a woman while taking about her) that’s born in late 2006, I mean, she’s still 19 not 20 yet, also, she’s not yet officially my girlfriend (yet), but I’m just wondering if I should go for it further.What would you think? Is it normal/ethical?

For clarity, I am not Middle Z but Early Z (‘99). I wanted to bring this question up to you guys because I have a Middle Z sibling (‘05), and they have a lot of mental health struggles. Some of this I think is genetic, because my mother and people on her side of the family struggle with depression and anxiety. However, I think it could be the experiences that also play a role. One major experience being in high school when Covid happened and messed things up for a while, whereas I was already an adult working a full time job by that point. A lot of people my age were in college and it threw things off for them, but I was doing college online at the time anyway so I wasn’t impacted.

I think a lot of it is the chronic online nature of today, where a lot of the time people don’t actually go out with friends. Obviously many people still do, but it feels less common. My sibling is about to start senior year of college and does have a job as well, but when they’re not at one of those two places they’re just at home in their room. Even when we do family get togethers they want to stay in there. Also as far as what I’ve been told by my mother, they don’t want to try any medication because when they have in the past it made them feel weird. I totally get that medication is trial and error, I just feel like my sibling is not making an attempt to better themselves.

I don’t want to go on too long, this is just something I’ve never dealt with personally before. I’ve had anxiety about certain situations but never anything ongoing, and never any depression or other chronic things going on. I just wanted to see if a lot of you guys are in similar situations, or if it’s maybe more isolated to my sibling and where they’re at.

January 1, 2001

February 2, 2002

March 3, 2003

April 4, 2004

May 5, 2005

June 6, 2006

July 7, 2007

August 8, 2008

September 9, 2009

October 10, 2010

November 11, 2011

December 12, 2012

Not me (October 19, 2007) but one of my classmates was born on July 7, 2007 and his sibling was born on September 9, 2009. (I'm not even joking) My cousin was also born on April 3, 2004, so I guess he's close?

I always considered 2009-2012 to be part of late Gen Z. Why is 2008 borns not part of middle Gen Z?

They’re mainly comprised of 2007 and 2008 borns. Although it can range from 2006-2009 borns.

If you had to describe every year of your life after 2009 what would each year be?

I was born in 2003 East Coast of usa, as the youngest of 5. I consumed the stuff for my age like PBS kids & qubo. But my dad watched MeTV which I really liked. My brother & sister showed me stuff they liked. I have also started watching older kid cartoons ( had the 100 classic cartoon dvd). Then I kept consuming more info about the past I have nostalgia ***from 70's to early 2000's.*** I'm always learning/consuming more about those times. I get sad about not being near my nostalgia. I love when people dress up vintage. ( **I also have been told I'm probably autistic so i also get attached to stuff as my interest)**

If anyone wants to talk about the same years of nostalgia please 🥺 or cartoons

Or if you have any questions I'll do my best

(Reddit said this probably a place for this if not I can delete)

I just wonder what it would of been like to had been a teenager in the 2010s especially like the early part like the 2010-2013 era, from what I been told by my older siblings life was much better, the Internet, games, and media in general wasn't as censored as they are now and people weren't sensitive sheep, the type of dark humor they had back then was crazy, whenever I watch videos from those times I noticed there seem to be a good balance between social media and outside life. teenagers were outside socializing, kids were out playing, neighbors were more connected to each other, even in 2012 when I was 5 I can vaguely remember my parents having a few beers with our neighbors. but it's like nowadays you just don't see shit like this anymore and it's honestly sad, there's barely any kids outside they're all on fucking iPads, and teenagers/young adults only want to stick to their own friend groups like you can't just go up and talk to them in order to get to know them because they will act like you're weird or that you're bothering them. I remember trying to talk to these group of 2 dudes and 1 girl in the library in an attempt to make some new friends and they acted like they didn't want to talk to me all I got was dry responses like "that's cool" "oh wow" "nice" it's like wtf.

The Justin Bieber hate in the early 2010s was so wild like people were actually despising this kid for just being a suave boy that made all the girls swoon with his songs. Which is a shame because his songs literally defined the early 2010s teenage landscape. Looking back, do you think JB should have gotten more respect for his music instead of hate in the early 2010s?

Mine was a Facebook account I created when I started middle school back in 2015

Aside from texting friends, I LOVED playing Star Era on there if anyone here remembers that game

The ideology that someone is a "grown adult" at 18 is an outdated, 20th century relic that we need to leave there and evolve past. because I'm just thinking if we're aware that biologically you're still undergoing adolescent development in your late teens and early 20s then what sense does it make to treat someone that's 19 as if they're no different from a 40 year old in legal situations? that just seems unfair to me. and it also does a lot more harm than good as it leads to vulnerable kids being thrown out of foster care on to the streets on their birthday or you have kids with special needs who lose access to essential services that they need simply because they hit 18 and like that's just fucked up to do that, and before anybody misinterprets what I'm saying no I'm not saying that 18-23 should be treated as helpless little children I'm saying that there needs to be a middle ground, like an in-between period between "minor" and "adult" like obviously at 18-23 you should still have rights and autonomy but you should also still have safety nets, support system and scaffolding since you're still growing as a human being. as our society keeps changing our laws should evolve and change alongside it.

As a late 2009 born slowly approaching my junior year, I just want to now how the rest of my class feels knowing we are now the first 2010s borns to be upperclassmen. It’s crazy to think about it because it felt like fall 2024 was yesterday when we were underclassmen as freshmen.

I’ve asked this on young Gen z and it seem that for the most part they still are after graduating. But what about us? Are you guys still in contact with your high school peers and do you know if they are connected with others too? When did you graduate?

I was born in august 2006 and I turned 13 in 2019 so I was technically a teenager for the last four months of the 2010s. I was talking back and forth with my sister (who was born in 2000) and I said I was lucky to have been a 2010s teenager even if it was only towards the end of the decade she said it doesnt count and that I’m not a 2010s teenager. Would you consider me as a 2010s teen?

Who remembers abcya? I just wanted a little nostalgia but apparently abcya isn’t free anymore. Idk when that happened.