Call us whatever you want-Generation Z, the Net Generation, etc.- there is no denying that something sets ours apart from previous generations: our unprecedented access to the media and stories of death. This has led us to become somewhat accustomed to tragedy.
No event has highlighted this trend more than the recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona, which killed six and wounded 14. This is not to say that our generation is emotionally stunted. We cry, we feel, and our hearts go out to those who are wronged. The shock element is what we lack.
Tragedies that can pass us by
I remember most details of September 11, 2001: being in second grade, and not realizing what was happening. By third block, Music, half of my class had left school. I explicitly remember entering a hotel room during the winter break of eighth grade to hear that Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated and I remember similar events occurring when I heard about the attempted Christmas Day bombings.
Those days and the mundane ways in which I spent them are memorable because the terrible things that happened around the world. The events stunned me, forced me to think in new ways, and compelled me to view the United States of America in a different light.
I do not clearly remember when I first heard of the shootings in Arizona—it may have been when I turned on the television, or maybe when I checked CNN’s website. I was saddened by the incidents, heartbroken when I heard about the life and death of nine-year-old Christina Taylor. I was green and optimistic when I heard that Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time. But I was not shocked this time.
Controlling exposure to grief
The message behind this is not that the U.S. does not do enough to prevent terrorist attacks or that national security is weak because of the large number of tragedies. It has absolutely nothing to do with control. All I am trying to communicate is that I think our generation faces a task that previous generations never had to confront. Our challenge is more difficult than the task of simply exposing ourselves to as much information as possible. Our challenge is to make sure that we only expose ourselves to the right information. For example, when we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the pain that the world has the potential to create—be it through playing violent video games or allowing ourselves to get caught up in the tragedy behind occurrences like the Arizona shootings—we lose a portion of our humanity. The students at our school are between ages 14 and 18. We are too young, too privileged to believe that tragedy is commonplace.