Is the post covid generation screwed?

For disclosure, I'm 24, so part of my college experience was quasi-online but I still got to go on campus and had a normal HS experience. I’m not talking about Gen Z who is in the workforce now but more so Gen A. I keep in touch with one of my teachers from HS since he is a family friend and he was recently talking about how post-covid, students are not the same anymore.

His primary points were that "Kids don't want to talk or know how to. They just want to swipe and click, instant gratification and comfort are all that drives them." Said it's been hard to get any creativity or critical thinking and blames social media, AI, smartphones, etc. 

Are these new generations really that devoid of social interaction or EQ? Is the Zuck world of "most of your friends will be AI" actually a possibility? Kind of sad if it is, and I wonder if any of the (albeit fucking slim) parents on WSO have seen this too. 

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Yes, and there is enough data to be concerned, but I want to pump the breaks a little and add that every generation thinks that about the new generation coming up. My view cannot be untangled from my bias in that regard. I'm almost 40. I think Zoomers are strange and Gen A are almost alien creatures, but I also remember the endless boomer-driven negative think pieces about Millennials, and we turned out fine. 

The last thing I want to do is perpetuate that generational-based nonsense, because you don't interact with generations. You interact with individuals, and individuals are more nuanced and interesting than stereotypes. Not every Gen Z guy has a broccoli haircut and thinks that pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth will give you a jawline. Not every Gen A boy can't look up from his phone and says "skibidi." TikTok and social media in general is a fucking problem, but it is not a universal problem. You can find good people to hire, talk to, and hang out with no matter what their age is. 

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