Is the “Snowflake Generation” More Sensitive?

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Generation Z, also known as the “crystal generation” or “snowflakes”, is a generation that is characterized by being more sensitive to stimuli, according to several authors, including Lucie Sara Zavodna, who organized a round table with different academics to find out their opinions about this generation.

According to the Proceedings of the Roundtable: Is the Snowflake Generation More Sensitive? Research from the Teaching of the New Generation, the “snowflake generation” is a term often used for people born between 1995 and 2010. The Collins Dictionary defines it as “The generation of people who became adults in the 2010s, seen as less resistant and more likely to take offense than previous generations.” Older people describe young people as fickle, sensitive, and with an exaggerated sense of what is politically correct. In addition, they are seen as impatient since they are used to obtaining information, procedures, and purchases faster thanks to the internet.

The author describes what is known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), a personality trait that refers to the tendency to process stimuli and information more strongly and deeply than others. SPS can be reflected in many other aspects, such as “greater depth of information processing, increased emotional reactivity, and empathy heightened awareness of environmental subtleties, and ease of overstimulation, which is believed to be driven by a more sensitive central nervous system.” Although this personality trait has positive aspects, such as empathy, it can negatively affect a person’s well-being, quality of life, and functional difficulties. According to the author’s research, SPS is a risk factor for mental health as it can lead to anxiety and depression.

To assess the SPS, a questionnaire called the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) was created, which was applied by Lucie Sara Zavodna to 407 university students from four different universities in the Czech Republic, all of them from the so-called “generation of Cristal.” 10% of men and 43% of women were found to be highly sensitive, but the average rate was moderately sensitive. 50% of the men and 55% of the women surveyed indicated that their sensitivity affects them during their studies. On the other hand, 40% of men responded that they consider themselves more sensitive than their parents, the same as 50% of women.

The author explains that sensitivity frequently affects different aspects of her life and shares some testimonials from the students surveyed:

1. Inability to concentrate. The process of concentration is an essential part of what students do daily. Without the ability to concentrate, thoughts and memory could be lost: “I am not able to focus on important tasks unless my psyche is OK. On the contrary, I am withdrawing, postponing or canceling plans at that moment. I work on peace of mind, and only then can I return to my original activities. ” 
2. Shyness. Shyness is associated with problems in performing in public, as well as in oral examinations or class presentations in front of classmates: “It simply affects my whole life. In certain situations, I am embarrassed, and sometimes I have had, and I still have, trouble doing the necessary thing, such as asking if I don’t understand something in class. .” 
3. Information overload. Students feel overwhelmed with information, mainly at the beginning of the semester. They feel lost and afraid of failure: “I am very sensitive, and I get overwhelmed very easily, especially at the beginning of the semester, when in each lesson, we receive the conditions for the completion of the course. I would appreciate regular assignments instead of a long one, which is due at the end of the semester. It makes me feel calm because I know I will do a little work for each class.”
4. Underestimation, especially of their capabilities: “I am very sensitive and very easily overwhelmed, especially at the beginning of the semester, when in every lesson, we got the termination conditions of the course. I would appreciate regular tasks rather than one long one submitted at the end of the semester. It makes me feel calm because I know I’ll do a little work for each class.”
5. Stress and anxiety. Students often feel anxious, especially at the beginning of the semester, when they are told the conditions for completing the courses: “I tend to be anxious; sometimes I get stressed from small things, or it happens to me that I feel stressed, but I don’t know why; I have no reason, but I still feel stressed, and that results in poor health.”
6. Overload of the senses. Students complain about smells, sounds that disturb them, or just a lot of people they have to be in the class with: “Strong odors (synthetic, sweet, sharp perfumes) cause bouts of suffocation, coughs, and allergies. It would be good if there were a recommendation not to use perfumes and deodorants with a strong odor (a similar practice in Canada). I have seen inhalers used by asthmatics in some students, so the measure would make sense because it is a health issue for them.”
7. A propensity for perfection. Students are afraid of failure. They’d instead not even try things. They often train themselves to perfection so that they do not fail: “For example, if I have to drive somewhere (beginner), I have to study the route in advance, see if the road is somewhere uphill, if I have a place to park, etc. I don’t like to deal with things on the spot.”
8. Inferior position. Students do not tolerate the superior position. They don’t like when the teacher speaks to them superiorly. They want a teacher who would be a “friend.”: “I don’t like it when my teacher raises his voice, threatens punishment, or says something I absolutely disagree with. I am bothered by the position of teacher versus student, where the teacher is always in a higher position. “

Of all these points, the most frequent among the students were those of focus and concentration. But they also blamed the teachers as the main cause; they were afraid of them because it was very dull, their material was not very interesting, their tasks were challenging or something like that. They also mentioned anxiety and stress; they again blame their teachers.

Dr. Zavodna demonstrated with her questionnaire that 40% of the men and 50% of the women surveyed consider themselves more sensitive than their parents. Still, for Paula Rice and Margrethe H. Bakke, who participated in the panel discussion Dr. Zavodna hosted, labeling them the “snowflake generation” is problematic. For researchers, seeing them this way is a limiting perspective, as this new generation is more actively engaged in social justice issues, dealing with negative feedback via social media, successfully using digital technologies, and much more. Educators must find ways to value these experiences and use them in the classroom.

Every teacher must apply critical pedagogies to harness students’ strengths and guide them to future success. The researchers say that “the objectives of essential pedagogies align with the needs of current students and society in general. In particular, we propose the use of a pedagogy of kindness as a way to conceptualize the way we see our students and our relationship with them.

When a teacher treats students as if they were “snowflakes,” she positions them as unable to navigate today’s world and, therefore, in need of constant help or supervision. According to Rice and Bakke, it is important to use a pedagogy of kindness that trains and empowers students. Under this vision, they are understood as individuals, and their personal experience in their learning is valued. Rice and Bakke point out that “teaching is not seen as something that will ‘fix’ students’ weaknesses or needs to be adjusted to compensate for some inherent generational flaw. This pedagogy assumes that teachers approach students with unconditional positive regard and that they can build the knowledge and skills they need to become themselves in the future.

In 2016, The Financial Times included “snowflake” in its annual Year in a Word list, defining it as “a derogatory term for someone who considers themselves too emotionally vulnerable to face views that challenge their own, particularly in universities and other forums once known for robust debate.”

The post-millennial generation, for whom these terms have been used, is perceived as short-sighted, quick to take offense, lacking in resilience, emotionally weak, and undermined and belittled. According to the authors, the media use anecdotes and stereotypes to describe how they behave and react instead of offering concrete data.

An example is how the young activist Greta Thunberg has been treated. In 2019, Australian journalist Andrew Bolt wrote a column criticizing Thunberg, calling her a “deeply disturbed messiah of the global warming movement,” adding, “I’ve never seen a girl so young and so mentally disturbed treated by as many adults as a guru.” Many comments refer to her being diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, using this diagnosis to detract from her actions. “It’s a symptom of autism and forms of Asperger’s not ‘really caring about social codes,’ or not fully understanding them. That often means not tolerating compromises with other people or her point of view,” Bolt wrote.

The negative representation of young people diagnosed as neurodivergent or with mental disorders as “disturbed” because they cannot tolerate ideas that counteract their own is ignorant and harmful to these people. Furthermore, this stigmatization is linked to mental health problems, minimizing new generations’ challenges. The new generations live receiving online harassment and digital abuse for defending their beliefs since, in doing so, they are called “snowflakes.” Calling them that does nothing but label them negatively.

Teaching with kindness

Generation Z expert Corey Seemiller believes that the “needs, expectations, perspectives, and aspirations (of new students) are different from those who entered college before them.” The reality is that there has been an increase in university activism and student engagement in their struggle on social justice issues. Seemiller describes them as “a priority of acting on the roots of global social problems over more short-term local information on the symptoms of these problems. They interact with diverse groups on campus and worldwide through social media, making students key players in social change outside the classroom. They bring their experience with innovative technology and a range of digital tools, as this generation is widely recognized as “digital natives.”

According to Rice and Bakke, this affects how they learn since this generation benefits from teaching through “observation, using online videos and social media posts as instructional tools, creating independent and intrapersonal learning habits, and a practical approach.” They see what they have learned as something they can apply to more than one area of ​​their lives.

Higher education institutions have been criticized for not adapting to innovations in pedagogy. Today’s students are constantly bombarded by different perspectives and information sources available to them 24 hours a day. Universities must adapt to these changes, allowing them to actively participate in evaluating the information and references they use and guiding them to meet different perspectives to build their knowledge and path to a better future.

Educational institutions often focus on impregnating what they consider “important” knowledge and how it should be learned. Rice and Bakke point out that “Universities apply a transactional model of education, with students in the role of customers, professors in the service of customer satisfaction, and administrators as managers.” That is, a model that “drains the entire system of its humanity and leads to decisions at every level where the personhood of a student, teacher or administrator is diminished.” The educational community is interested in learning new pedagogical practices that allow students to develop different ways of understanding knowledge and learning. For Rice and Bakke, the problem is not the so-called “snowflake generation” but the outdated educational models and pedagogies.

Qualifying a student easily offended as “weak” places the responsibility solely on the student, not the institutions and their shortcomings. We need teaching that uses approaches aligned with the student body’s needs and social context. Talking about current problems in the classroom from a global and critical perspective will help students critically reflect on how an emotional process is related to ideas of self-pity and open to other points of view. “Students and educators have been resistant to critically reflecting on and disrupting rigid, binary thought patterns because of the discomfort and vulnerability involved,” the Rice and Bakke article says. This may be why students find it challenging to engage with ideas that do not reflect their understanding or way of seeing the world, something that is not only their responsibility but also falls on the people who teach them.

Adopting a pedagogy of kindness guided by compassion and caring requires teachers who identify students’ concerns, see the world from their perspectives, and understand the challenges they face. Kindness is not considered central to teaching and implies a change in teaching practice since it implies that teachers modify their teaching approach from control to one where relationships are built with their students. “Power structures in which the teacher has power and the student has none weakens social awareness and undermines necessary social change,” the authors describe. Equalizing power distribution or exercising a less hierarchical model allows students to think independently.

Trading this practice for a kindness approach helps empower students of diverse backgrounds and allows them to take an active role in their learning and become engaged in classroom activities and social justice issues. In addition, motivating them in their studies and feeling valued and respected will help those who suffer from mental health problems or have been marginalized and dismissed due to stereotypical thoughts. A kindness pedagogy requires that students are seen as people first and students second. It is essential to mention that “compassion does not compromise rigor or expectations. Rather, it models how students can engage their future stakeholders. However, changing how you see yourself as a teacher and how you view knowledge is not easy and makes changing the way you teach a permanent goal.”

It is clear that implementing a new pedagogical model is not easy as personal issues can arise, be it entrenched beliefs about teaching and learning that impact what they do, course content, and institutional structures. The pedagogy of kindness can be achieved through small changes, mainly our attitude toward students; You need to build trust and believe in them.

Rice and Bakke state that “implementing a pedagogy of kindness doesn’t have to be time-consuming or exhausting” since “kindness is most intensely experienced through seemingly small gestures done with sincerity.” This is important because educational institutions are inundated with tasks, projects and evaluations, so they do not take the time to implement a new pedagogy under the pretext that it would imply an increased workload.

Teachers must be aware of their students’ identities without relying on prejudices or stereotypes that make them see them as hypersensitive, weak, or defective. It is time that we stop seeing them as a “snowflake generation” and recognize their commitment to the world around them and see them as people capable of making significant contributions. Tell us, do you consider the new generations as “snowflakes”? Is it necessary to modify the pedagogical approaches to be kinder? How can we implement a pedagogy of kindness?

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Translation by Daniel Wetta

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0