5 Issues With Their Parents That Gen Z Brings Up Most In Therapy

Life looks very different today for Gen Z (born after 1996) than it did for their Gen X parents (born in 1965 to 1981). The young adults of Gen Z comprise the first generation of “digital natives” who never knew a time before smartphones. Their higher education and early work experiences were drastically altered by the pandemic. They are more racially and ethnically diverse, and more likely to know a person who uses they/them pronouns.

All of these cultural shifts can lead to some fruitful conversations between Gen Z and their parents, strengthening bonds and growing connections. But differing perspectives can also cause, or heighten, conflict.

We reached out to therapists who work with Gen Z clients and asked them which issues with their parents they bring up the most in therapy. Here’s what they had to say.

Pushback Over Screen Time

One of the biggest issues that Gen Z faces is navigating their relationship with their phones, and this can lead to plenty of conflicts with parents.

Not only is amount of time kids are spending on their phones a big concern for parents, so is the content they’re accessing.

Yet parents’ attempts to limit and monitor their kids’ use of technology can often backfire. “When parents do turn to phone monitoring apps for their children, from what I have seen, it leads to a big wedge in the relationship,” California-based therapist Torri Efron told HuffPost.

In order to keep up with their online social lives and maintain privacy, kids may “lie, use other people’s phones or find other ways to communicate with friends that their parents cannot see, leading to almost a double life,” Efron said.

Kids may “feel they cannot be themselves around their parents, and, alternately, if they are following