Dr. Olivier REVOL

Former Head of Department, Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Est Hospital Group, Lyon, France.

Caring for, supporting and training the Generation Z :

The new codes

Summary:  

These times are special!

Parents, teachers and caregivers can logically feel at a loss when dealing with children and adolescents of the 21st century, with the unpleasant feeling of being confronted with a locked door whose code has changed. The obstacle can become insurmountable at an age when the therapeutic relationship requires mutual trust and empathy.

Children born since 2000 force previous generations to adapt differently. They do not occupy the same space, impose new ways of eating, dressing, negotiating with adults and managing social relationships. Not to mention a particular interest in screens, with their own image, of course, at the center of everyone’s concerns.

Understanding the specific features of this generation then becomes a necessary challenge, exciting yet complicated. Aborder l’importance de l’hygiène de vie, du travail scolaire et des conduites à risques nécessite d’être au préalable sensibilisé aux nouveaux codes des adolescents. Surinformés, hyper-connectés, ils recherchent des plaisirs immédiats et peinent à se projeter dans un avenir rendu confus par une série d’évènements peu rassurants (Sida, chômage, attentats, tsunamis, pandémies, guerre en Europe et au Moyen Orient…).

For caregivers, the challenge is significant. Supporting the “millennials” as closely as possible requires understanding the incredible sociological changes that have taken place over the past 30 years. With the need to adapt in order to establish a therapeutic alliance that is not always won in advance, avoid intergenerational misunderstandings and prepare new generations for the challenges of the 21st century.