Funding for To the Contrary, provided by: This week, on To the Contrary: It's coming up in data all over that this generation is anxious, has mental health issues and are are worried.

Hello, I'm Bonnie Erbé.

Welcome to To the Contrary, a discussion of news and social trends from diverse perspectives.

This week, Gen Z, a new survey from the University of California of more than 1600 young people, confirms Gen Z's top priority is safety.

The generation born between 1997 and 2012 has grown up surrounded by crises.

Think of it school shootings, climate change, financial instability, the Covid 19 pandemic.

The study shows young people in overwhelming numbers make feeling safe in an uncertain world their top goal.

With us to discuss this is Yalda Uhls, UCLA psychology professor and senior author of the study, to discuss her findings.

Welcome to the program, Dr. Uhls.

Thank you so much for having me, Bonnie.

We're very happy to have you.

So let's start with what?

Why did you do this survey?

The so called what the 2024 Teens and Screens report is and whom did you survey?

We do this survey every year.

My background is I used to be a film executive.

I used to be in the movie business.

And then I got a PhD in developmental psychology, studying how media impacts young people.

Before I launched the Center for Scholars and Storytellers, which is based at UCLA and at the Center for Scholars and Storytellers, what we're trying to do is provide research, insights, from development psychology, social science and research that we do to help storytellers, creators create stories that resonate with young people and also help them, you know, thrive and grow and develop in positive ways.

So the teens and screen study, which we have now done, this will be that was our third year.

We'll will release a new one in October of 2025.

We asked teens across the country over 1600 of them.

We define teens the way the National Academy of Science defines them, ages 10 to 24.

And we surveyed them about different issues and different things that they care about, in particular around media.

And we had a separate section in this year's study around what their goals were, what their aspirations were, what they're hoping for in the future.

And what did your research showed you scared them the most?

I mean, there were all sorts of small and large emergencies developing while they were growing up.

Yeah.

We did not ask them what scared them the most, but we asked them what goal or what thing they were most hoping for, and we gave them a list of 14 different things.

And some of these were, you know, typical teenage thing.

I desire to be popular.

I desire to be attractive.

I desire to be rich, famous.

And one of them was I desire to be safe and safety was the number one answer that they responded with.

And we believe and, you know, I wrote about this for The Conversation, which is an online news journal, that it's because of these multiple crises.

I mean, it's coming up in data all over that this generation is anxious, has mental health issues and are worried.

I mean, there's all these different things that have happened in their lifetime, you know, that that are very, very, scary.

And so they want to be safe.

And how do you think whatever made it to the top to make it feel to this generation, like wanting to be safer was the most important goal.

I think it's because they're living in a time of compounded crises.

I mean, there's so many things, as you mentioned, at the top, they went through the Covid 19 pandemic.

Climate change is really real for them.

They're very terrified of it.

There's a lot of inequality and financial instability.

They don't believe they can achieve the American dream.

They still want it.

But it's not, does not seem achievable.

And many of them have grown up in a time of school shooting drills in their schools.

So almost, you know, many teens have been in a space where they don't feel safe at the place they're sent to every single day because there's these drills, about shooters that are supposed to prepare them.

But in truth, they may be anxiety provoking.

I think that, you know, these young people have a lot to.

And the political climate to is really the conversation out there.

The dialogue, the the way that people treat each other and talk to each other.

Wars.

And the thing that I think is very different too, is this generation has access to the information about all of this on the news.

So social media really amplifies it.

Young people have access to news through their social platforms in a way that older generations didn't.

So it feels like it's there every single second.

Even though violence has gone down.

And, you know, school shootings are still somewhat rare because it's amplified and, you know, just shared all the time in the news cycle.

It feels like it could happen any minute.

How do you explain to your students and to yourself how feeling safe became the number one goal for Gen Z?

You know, there's this psychologist who did a very famous pyramid hierarchy of different psychological needs.

And one of the basic psychological needs is safety.

Like, if you do not feel safe, you cannot think about, you know, being a good human, for example, you can only think it's actually more important than even eating and drinking and community.

Being safe is just a fundamental need.

And because these young people are in a place where they don't feel safe, they can't really think about other things.

I mean, describe that a little more if you could because it's not like I remember being, you know, a child of the ‘60s and every being, everybody being so worried about nuclear war because it was all over the place.

And they did political commercials about it and etc., etc..

But, how is it that this generation feels even less safe than the one that I grew up with?

Well, they have school shootings, you know, they're there have been a huge rise in school shootings.

Inequality is huge.

Climate change, actions.

There's more hurricanes.

I live in, I used to live in the Palisades.

All of Los Angeles just burned down.

You know, the news cycle is telling them about this 24/7.

I agree, in the ‘60s, there was a lot of turmoil.

And, you know, I just watched the Dylan movie and you could see in the, in that movie that, you know, the bomb was really scary, you know, the Cuban Missile Crisis was terrifying.

So there was probably some of that feeling back then as well.

And the political turmoil and all the assassinations must have felt terrifying as well.

But the thing that's so, so today is a similar time, I think, to the ‘60s.

But the thing that and maybe that generation would have felt if you had surveyed them, the same thing.

But today's generation is getting this news to them all the time and younger at a younger age, you know, I mean, when I was growing up, it was later than that.

But I, I didn't watch the news.

I didn't, you know, there were there were TVs with, you know, my parents watch the news.

I didn't watch the news.

I barely read the newspaper.

You know, I wanted to have fun.

I wanted to be free.

I wanted, you know, typical developmental things.

But if you're worried about being safe, you can't want those other things as much.

So, I think it's changed because this generation has so much access to news.

Well, and as you describe it, access to news after access to more sources of news, what particularly about that has really shocked this generation?

Well, I think they just see, they see that, you know, when the news is primarily, you know, you don't write about the plane landing, you write about the plane crashing.

So when news is primarily negative and writing about a school shooting, they don't write about all the schools that, you know, didn't have a school shooting.

So the news says, oh, there's a shooter that came into the school and killed all these people.

And then the young people get access to that news.

But on top of that, in their schools, they are doing school shooter drills.

So they are actually enacting out what would happen if a school shooter came into the school.

So at a very young age, these young kids are starting to feel these feelings of fear.

On top of like all the climate stuff, which is uncontrollable.

You know, we can't really there's not much you can do about it as an individual.

So and, you know, I mean, I do think, you know, seeing the political climate where people are just, you know, not really.

There's wars that people are reading about.

The Palestinian-Israeli war is very in everyone's faces.

So I think immigration is a big issue.

All of these issues that all of us have to deal with.

But as young people, they're being aware of them at a much younger age than prior generations.

Now, your study also mentions compounding crises such as school shootings and the pandemic.

How did these events shape Gen Zs focus on safety?

Yeah, I think having several different types of crises can certainly shape Gen Z wanting to be still safe.

One of the great things about the study, though, is that, the second thing that they put was that they really cared about kindness.

So the second sort of goal and values that they really wanted was kindness and self-acceptance.

So they're still craving community.

In fact, they're craving it more than ever.

And, you know, another thing is fame was very far at the bottom and financial success.

So these tropes that we have about young people that they all they want to be is on social media.

All they want to do is be rich and famous.

They're telling us in the survey, those are not actually things that they hope for.

Why?

Who knows why.

I mean, maybe because we've raised them well, maybe because, you know, they're I mean, this generation of parents have spent a lot more time, with their children to both the positive and the negative.

They, in fact, young people feel more connected.

They've said they feel more connected to their parents, possibly because it's so much easier to communicate with all the technology.

You know, when I went off to college, I barely talked to my parents because it was just really hard to find a phone.

But now my daughter and I Snapchat, and we text and we can FaceTime.

You know, every day if we want.

So, you know, there is this closeness to their families and they understand the value of being, you know, and because they lived through the COVID pandemic where they really couldn't connect, you know, they had to be stuck in rooms during a time when, you know, at during that age, in adolescence, friendships are really, really important.

And the only way they could connect was virtual.

So I think they really value and understand that being in person with another person is and connecting in a kind and thoughtful way, is meaningful.

Now, how would you say that really has changed the Gen Z?

How's it going to be different from prior and succeeding generations?

Because it does spend so much time alone through social media?

I think they're just they have values that are really around, you know, social good social justice.

They've seen a lot of things on through media.

They've seen bad behavior.

They've seen a lot of negative news.

They've seen, you know, George Floyd's murder.

They've seen all of these things that, you know, the marches, the fires that, that are going that have shaped them and made them hope for something better and hope that they could create something better.

I mean, I think, like, you know, the 60s is a very similar generation.

And, you know, it's it's the 70s and 80s, you know, sort of each generation reacts to each generation.

But I think this generation is actually very similar to the ‘60s generation.

Tell me more about that, because I was at least a teenage of the ‘60s.

What do you, tell me more about what you see.

It seemed like the world back then, although obviously there were political commercials about, you know, nuclear weapons and fears of atomic attacks.

But overall, it felt like a very long shot possibility.

So tell me what else makes this era, similar to the ‘60s?

I think they, you know, young people, you know, were fighting for civil rights and fighting for gender equality and marching and and fighting against the war, and really energized, you know, by what was coming out of the ‘50s and what was happening to, to fight for social justice.

And this generation has also fought for social justice, you know, you know, Women's March, the, after the murder of, like Black Lives Matter, you know, the Palestinian protests, all of these things were things that adolescents Gen Z was doing in a way.

They in a way that that many young people in the ‘60s did.

Give me some examples, please.

Black Lives Matter march, George Floyd marches.

The Palestinian protests, the the climate change marches, the Women's March.

Those kinds of things.

So, so do we know what the next generation Gen Alpha will be like when it comes to fear and safety?

Well, there were a few, you know, we started at age ten and that some of, you know, 10 to 13 is Gen Alpha.

So they also had similar concerns.

They are also younger than age ten.

So, I think developmentally as a developmental psychologist, I know that, you know, you change a lot once you hit puberty and, and so we, you know, so younger than puberty, there may be less exposure to social media, less exposure to the news, less exposure.

Parents protecting more.

But there's probably school shooting drills.

There's probably some of this, these things that older teens experience, that younger Gen Alpha experiences, but I would like to hope that if we asked young people under ten the same questions, they'd say having fun or being a good person and being kind, I really would be sad if very young children, their number one goal was to be safe.

Interesting.

And how might some of these insights you're mentioning now influence how adults, parents, educators or media creators support young people moving forward?

It's a great question.

I, you know, at the Center for Scholars and Storytellers, we really try to help storytellers and parents and educators understand the concerns of young people and what they want to see in their media.

And we found in our teens in screen study that they want to see hopeful, uplifting stories for three years in a row.

That's been their number one desire to.

Have the media been responding.

Somewhat.

But, you know, it's a drumbeat.

We keep telling them.

We keep telling them, I mean, we, we work with every media company, we work with YouTube, we work with Disney, we work with gaming companies, all sorts of different people.

So Netflix, we share our research with them, we share the findings that we have.

And so we hope that it's getting out there to storytellers.

We get a lot of press on our research.

We were in the New York Times and the LA times, NPR.

So we hope that they're reading our about our findings and thinking about them.

They're also really interested in friendships, which kind of connects with the kindness and community finding, they want to see and they also want to connect in real life.

So they want to see stories that make them feel good and they want to connect and community.

We believe that, you know, we found this year that they actually, if they had one choice, if they had a weekend with nothing to do, it really easy to get to where they want.

And, money wasn't an object.

They the number one thing they want to do is go see a movie in a movie theater.

And that was over like.

Now you're describing you're describing kids my age when I was a teenager.

Exactly.

I the kids today want to do that same thing.

And, fortunately, I don't think the movie theaters are giving them movies they want to see, but when they do give them something they want to see, they love it.

And they said they'd rather do that over, going to a sports event, over, even going to a concert.

As they get older, they want concerts more, but, you know, so, so that's a way that's something they can do with their friends.

That's something they can hopefully feel safe in that environment.

And it's it, it is something that they really love.

So, you know, we hope that storytellers will inspire young people, help them.

You know, I mean, I wish there was something we could do about the negativity of the negative news that we are all bombarded with 24/7 because it definitely shapes everyone's feelings.

And this generation has really internalized it.

Now, when you talk about broader changes coming, possible broader changes coming, do you think some of these changes could address Gen Z's deep seeded need for safety and stability?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think I hope that, you know, we also I hope they they get some agency.

I mean I hope that I think it's also scary because a lot of rights are being taken away that that you know, you know, Roe vs. Wade.

There's a lot happening at the universities right now based on the protests and I hope there will be changes that will allow this generation to feel like they have some ability to make change and to impact their world.

I mean, I do think that's what happened in the 60s.

And if we can let this generation feel some successes around what they care about, they will be emboldened.

And, you know, psychologists know that self-efficacy, feeling competent, feeling agency is a really powerful mechanism to motivate people to do things and to change the world.

And I think they want to change the world.

They're just right now they're really scared.

And when you're scared you, it's really hard to feel agency.

Well, what's going to make the world more scary for kids?

You know, the generation Gen Z?

If they see more and more of the school shootings and, you know, acts of God, so to speak, with the weather and exploding volcanoes and God knows what else.

What's going to make them more secure?

Less secure?

Well, if they if the if we continue on the trajectory that we're on, I don't think they're going to feel more secure.

And when you don't feel safe, you know, there are there is evidence that if you living in fear, you really sort of, focus on safety and, and your own self and taking care of yourself and your family and nobody else.

And so we will live, you know, you know, storytellers tell these stories of dystopian futures where, where things everything goes wrong.

And I don't think, you know, I mean, we'll see.

Hopefully there will be people that will still be motivated.

But, I think that, you know, we've seen authoritarian rises around the world, of political figures and, and you kind of want the strong person, you know, when you're not feeling safe.

There's something we we feel that's like, oh, I want someone to just take care of everything.

And that could be the authoritarian rises.

Could be because people don't feel safe.

I hope things change.

And I hope that, you know, we start to make some progress, you know, around financial instability and inequality, that we start to have some gun control laws and maybe find different ways to think about, school shootings.

So that, we are training them to, to with a school shooter.

I hope that, you know, we figure out some positive things around the climate, so that people can feel more hopeful.

Do you think, as far as science is concerned and we're almost out of time, but I want to throw in this last question.

Do you think there are solutions to climate change, or is it just going to become something bigger and more serious and more fear inducing in our culture?

I mean, I think we are an incredibly resilient species.

And I do think, I think there are probably a lot of incredible I mean, I'm not a climate change scientist, but I think if we are working together to, to have business, political will, consumer will, you know, education, all of these organized, you know, people working together to think about the climate.

I think, you know, there may be challenges, you know, like there was just this huge fire in LA now, like we have to be ready for certain things.

But very few people, you know, work died.

So like so I think they're we just will adapt.

We are resilient.

We will adapt.

We will figure it out.

And I hope that we won't push away, all of the progress and all of the conversation we've had around climate change because, you know, the science is saying that'll make it worse rather than maintain or better.

Thank you so much, doctor.

All those this has been very informative, and I'm hoping that scientists and all the rest of us are able to move forward on climate change, meaning getting it better under control.

But the real question is who the heck knows?

Thank you so much for your half hour time and for your enlightenment.

And thank you for watching this edition of To the Contrary.

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