“Born Connected: Gen Z, Mental Health, and the Double-Edged Web — What We Know and How We Heal”
Who is Gen Z?
“Gen Z” typically refers to people born from 1997 onward—the first cohort to grow up with smartphones and social platforms woven into daily life. Pew Research Center draws the line at 1997 as the first Gen Z birth year (marking the end of Millennials in 1996), and its profiles often analyse Gen Z as the most racially/ethnically diverse and digitally native generation to date. Pew Research Center+1
It means today’s Gen Z includes teens in secondary school, university students, and young adults entering the workforce. They’ve come of age through the Great Recession’s aftermath, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and an always-on internet—events that shape both their strengths (adaptability, civic mindedness, fluency with information) and their stressors (economic uncertainty, information overload, algorithmic pressure).
